Wie is de Mol? (English: Who is the Mole?) is a Dutch adventure reality competition show. It is based on the Belgian show De Mol, the original version of the format created in 1998 by Woestijnvis and broadcast on VRT. It is one of the most popular television shows in the Netherlands.
Format Wie is de Mol? is a reality television competition involving a group of candidates. These candidates travel to a foreign country where they have to complete assignments to earn money to fill the prize pot. However, one of the participants is selected as the Mole. The Mole's goal is to secretly sabotage the assignments and keep the total amount of money in the pot as low as possible. The other candidates do not know who the Mole is, and attempt to figure out the Mole's identity throughout the season.
At the end of every episode the candidates take a multiple choice test about the Mole's identity. The test contains 20 questions (40 questions in the final test) about the Mole's activities since the previous test and personal questions about the Mole (for example, "On which team was the mole during the castle-assignment" or "Has the mole been baptized?").
Throughout a season, multiple advantages can be earned:
A joker corrects an incorrect answered question on the test. A green exemption makes a contestant unable to be eliminated. A black exemption makes all other played advantages undone.
In most cases, a contestant can choose whether or not and when to play their earned advantage(s).
The person with the fewest correct answers is then eliminated from the show. In most series this process continues until only two contestants and the Mole remain. The winner is the person with the most correct answers in the final test and they get all of the money earned for the prize pot throughout the season.
It often occurs that an unexpected assignment is presented after all contestant filled out a test, which can result in no one being eliminated in that episode, regardless of the results.
Hosts Color key: Host Guest appearance Participant
Host S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 S10 S11 S12 S13 S14 S15 S16 S17 S18 S19 S20 JB S21 S22 S23 S24 STR1 S25 JB2 S26 STR2 Angela Groothuizen Pieter Jan Hagens Art Rooijakkers Rik van de Westelaken Hila Noorzai Notes
Seasons
Regular seasons The first four seasons of Wie is de Mol? had non-celebrities as participants. After a one-year hiatus in 2004, all participants in the following seasons were Dutch celebrities.
The 7th season in 2007 was the first season to have four finalists, with two runner-ups. This also occurred in the 20th season.
The 18th season in 2018 was the first to be located in six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine (episode 1) and Georgia (episode 1–10).
Broadcasting of the 26th season was delayed to make room on NPO 1 for broadcasting the 2026 Winter Olympics.
SeasonStart dateFinale (reunion)HostThe MoleWinnerRunner-up(s)Amount wonInternational destination119 November 199921 January 2000Angela GroothuizenDeborahPetra Robinƒ82,500Guilder, the national Dutch currency at the timeAustralia25 January 20012 March 2001NicoSigrid Yvonneƒ70,000Guilder, the national Dutch currency at the timeScotland38 February 200219 April 2002GeorgeJohn Jantien€42,300.-Portugal415 March 200324 May 2003EliseRon Chandrika€35,550.-Canada514 January 200518 March 2005Yvon JaspersMarc-Marie Huijbregts€23,000.-AustraliaIndonesia (Bali)610 March 200612 May 2006 died on 3 April 2006, during the period that season 6 was broadcast on television. As requested by her, the airing of the season continued. The €24,475.- that she won was donated to WWF and Foundation KiKa.€24,475.-Argentina74 January 200715 March 2007Renate VerbaanThe final of season 7 had four finalists. Renate and Eva both lost to Paul. Eva van der GuchtThe final of season 7 had four finalists. Renate and Eva both lost to Paul.€17,300.-Thailand83 January 20086 March 2008Pieter Jan HagensDennis WeeningEdo Brunner €20,375.-Mexico98 January 200912 March 2009Vivienne van den Assem€22,650.-Northern IrelandJordan107 January 201025 March 2010Frits Sissing€21,950.-Japan116 January 201117 March 2011Art RooijakkersAfter unmasking the Mole in season 11 and winning the season, Art went on to present Wie is de Mol? from seasons 12 to 18.€19,540.-El SalvadorNicaragua125 January 20128 March 2012Art RooijakkersHadewych Minis €12,601.-IcelandSpain (Andalusia)133 January 20137 March 2013Paulien Cornelisse€17,120.-South Africa142 January 201420 March 2014Susan VisserSofie van den Enk€16,700.-Hong KongPhilippines151 January 20155 March 2015Rik van de WestelakenAfter unmasking the Mole in season 15 and winning the season, Rik went on to present Wie is de Mol? from season 19 onwards.€10,500.-Sri Lanka162 January 20165 March 2016Klaas van KruistumTim HofmanAnnemieke Schollaardt€13,020.-Dominican Republic177 January 201711 March 2017Thomas CammaertJochem van Gelder€24,320.-186 January 201810 March 2018Jan VersteeghRuben HeinOlcay Gulsen€17,750.-GeorgiaCandidates began the first episode in five duos, spread across the capitals of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. The first assignment involved finding plane tickets to Georgia, where the remainder of the season took place.195 January 20199 March 2019Rik van de WestelakenMerel Westrik Sarah ChronisNiels Littooij€10,150.-Colombia2011 January 202014 March 2020Buddy VedderMiljuschka WitzenhausenThe final of season 20 had four finalists. Miljuschka and Nathan came second and third respectively and lost to Buddy.Nathan RutjesThe final of season 20 had four finalists. Miljuschka and Nathan came second and third respectively and lost to Buddy.€13,400.-China (Henan)212 January 20216 March 2021Renée Fokker€9,675.-Czech Republic 221 January 20225 March 2022Kim-Lian van der Meij€8,065.-Albania 237 January 202311 March 2023Ranomi Kromowidjojo€11,650.-South Africa (Western Cape)246 January 20249 March 2024€8,585.-Mexico254 January 20258 March 2025Roos Moggré€8,055.-Cambodia2628 February 20262 May 2026€13,280.-Tanzania
Anniversary seasons At the reunion of the 20th season (on 14 March 2020), a 20th anniversary season was announced to air in September 2020. The season featured 10 previous contestants.
In February 2025, a 25th anniversary season was announced to air in November 2025. The season featured 5 previous contestants and 5 previous Moles. SeasonStart dateFinale (reunion)HostThe MoleWinnerRunner-upAmount wonInternational destinationJB15 September 202024 October 2020Rik van de WestelakenJeroen Kijk in de Vegte (contestant in season 17)Nikkie de Jager (contestant in season 19)Tygo Gernandt (contestant in season 14)€12,580.-Italy (Tuscany)JB21 November 202520 December 2025Nathan Rutjes (runner-up in season 20)Merel Westrik (Mole of season 19)Loes Haverkort (contestant in season 18)€5,340.-Portugal
Streaming seasons On 14 May 2024, a special season was announced to air exclusively on NPO Start and NLZIET in June 2024. This was the first season to feature non-celebrity candidates since 2003.
On 14 October 2024, a second streaming season was announced to air in 2026. SeasonStart dateFinale (reunion)HostThe MoleWinnerRunner-upAmount wonInternational destinationSTR128 June 202419 July 2024Hila NoorzaiNyreeEmmaJelmer€10,535.-OmanSTR29 October 2026TBATBACroatia
Junior editions SeasonAirdateHostThe MoleWinnerRunner-upPrize moneyDestination117 May 2008Sipke Jan BousemaAminNaomiLara6970 Two and a half cent coin (€79) Zwolle29 March 2014Art RooijakkersJennyDaveyRoeland €1,020 Maastricht Zeeland Ratings
Season Timeslot Premiere Finale (Reunion) Average ratings Date Ratings Date Ratings 1Friday, 20:30 19 November 1999 807,000 21 January 2000 915,000 793,000 2 5 January 2001 1,070,000 2 March 2001 960,000 1,006,000 3 Friday, 21:35 8 February 2002 928,000 19 April 2002 1,005,000 909,000 4 Saturday, 21:00 15 March 2003 1,115,000 24 May 2003 626,000 785,000 5Friday, 20:30 14 January 2005 1,289,000 18 March 2005 1,485,000 1,450,000 6 10 March 2006 1,168,000 12 May 2006 1,147,000 1,106,000 7Thursday, 20:30 4 January 2007 1,358,000 15 March 2007 1,270,000 1,188,000 8 3 January 2008 1,922,000 6 March 2008 1,563,000 1,513,000 9 8 January 2009 1,597,000 12 March 2009 1,409,000 1,460,000 10 7 January 2010 2,040,000 25 March 2010 1,558,000 1,673,000 11 6 January 2011 2,146,000 17 March 2011 2,031,000 1,922,000 12 5 January 2012 2,136,000 8 March 2012 2,105,000 1,899,000 13 3 January 2013 2,070,000 7 March 2013 2,579,000 2,132,000 14 2 January 2014 2,455,000 20 March 2014 3,148,000 2,464,000 15 1 January 2015 2,486,000 5 March 2015 3,359,000 2,403,700 16Saturday, 20:30 2 January 2016 2,163,000 5 March 2016 2,982,000 2,114,900 17 7 January 2017 2,882,000 11 March 2017 2,999,000 2,536,000 18 6 January 2018 2,669,000 10 March 2018 3,227,000 2,582,300 19 5 January 2019 2,986,000 9 March 2019 3,500,000 2,869,400 20 11 January 2020 3,002,000 14 March 2020 3,894,000 2,591,300 JB1 5 September 2020 2,665,000 24 October 2020 3,567,000 2,741,750 21 2 January 2021 3,117,000 6 March 2021 3,348,000 3,180,700 22 1 January 2022 3,120,000 5 March 2022 3,242,000 2,894,000 23 7 January 2023 2,634,000 11 March 2023 3,081,000 2,451,400 24 6 January 2024 3,717,000 9 March 20243,074,000254 January 20253,476,0008 March 20252,827,000 Notes
Live finale Ever since 2015, the finale (where the Mole and their sabotaging activity is revealed) is broadcast live, with an audience. Over the years, multiple locations have hosted the live finale.
2015−2020 and 2024: VondelCS (located in Vondelpark) in Amsterdam The 2020 finale was still broadcast live but was held without an audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Two days prior to the finale, the national lockdown was announced.) The 20th anniversary season finale (later in 2020) was held in the Vondel Church (located in Vondelpark) in Amsterdam. This finale was not broadcast live and was held without an audience. 2021: Gashouder building of Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam. This finale was broadcast live but held with an online audience. 2022: Rode Hoed in Amsterdam. This was the first finale to feature a live audience since the COVID-19 pandemic. 2023: Soestdijk Palace in Baarn. The finale of the streaming season of 2024 was not broadcast live. It was held at an undisclosed location, without an audience. 2025−2026: De Hallen in Amsterdam. Only AVROTROS members were able to attend.
References
External links
Format license owner: The New Flemish Primitives Official homepage
Mol Talk