Dieuwertje Blok

Dieuwer Sarah "Dieuwertje" Blok (8 August 1957 – 2 March 2025) was a Dutch actress, writer and radio and television presenter who was best known for presenting Het Sinterklaasjournaal from 2001 to 2024.

Early life and education Dieuwer Sarah Blok was born on 8 August 1957 in Nederhorst den Berg, North Holland, which is also where she was raised. She was the second of three daughters of the Dutch historian Dick Blok and Hennie Gazan, a Dutch Jew. and the paternal granddaughter of Dutch Egyptologist . Her younger sister was , a radio presenter. Her uncle was , a professor of Dutch literature. Blok's sister Tessel has nonetheless described their childhood as "free and carefree". In her adolescence, Blok also performed at the local amateur theatre in Nederhorst den Berg.

Blok went to school in the Gooi and in Hilversum. She passed the entrance exam for Gemeentelijk Gymnasium Hilversum and studied there for three years from 1969 to 1972. Although her father wanted her to attend a gymnasium, Blok disliked the school and started to fail at her studies there in her second year after she became involved with the local hippie movement, later admitting in interviews to drinking, taking drugs and stealing money. She had previously been employed as a photo editor for the KRO's broadcasting magazine Studio from 1978 to 1980.

In 1985, Blok publicly declared that she was an atheist in an article she wrote for Vrij Nederland. This unintentionally led to her sacking from the KRO, as it did not allow atheists to present its programmes at the time. However, in November of that year she announced her departure from the programme to focus on other projects, with Astrid Joosten chosen to replace her as presenter.

RTL 4 and talk show lawsuit (1989–1992) In June 1989, it was announced that Blok would leave the VARA to present for RTL-Véronique. In the same year, she started co-presenting the weekly children's news programme on Friday mornings for Nederland 3. Starting with the channel's first broadcast in October 1989, Blok also co-presented RTL-Véronique's with Postelmans and Viola Holt. In May 1990, it was announced that Blok would no longer co-present De 5 Uur Show, with Catherine Keyl presenting in her place. From June 1990, Blok presented the twice-a-week Prime Time Show for RTL-Véronique, alternating with Holt.

In April 1990, it was announced that Blok would present her own talk show for RTL Véronique, originally planned to be broadcast weekly on Tuesday nights over the summer. In July 1990, it was announced that Blok's talk show would air every Monday evening from September 1990. The first episode of the talk show, also named Dieuwertje Blok, was broadcast on 17 September 1990. The guest of the first episode was the actor . In October 1990, Block signed a two-year contract with RTL-Véronique to present the talk show. The contract stipulated that Blok be offered to present another programme comparable to her talk show by RTL-Véronique if it went off the air. Blok's talk show was taken off the air by RTL 4 in March 1991. At the time, a spokesman from RTL 4 stated that the show was not renewed for the winter season as Blok and RTL 4 could not come to an agreement over the show's formula during the renewal negotiations. In a report from the Leidsch Dagblad from May 1992, it is stated that Blok's talk show was cancelled because of disappointing ratings and because of RTL 4's editor-in-chief , who had published a critical report into Blok's performance at the organisation without her knowledge. Except for a brief period in 1992, Blok's television career was in hiatus from her departure from RTL 4 in 1991 until 1994.

The cancellation of Blok's talk show led to a legal dispute between Blok and RTL 4. To meet the stipulations agreed in the contract, RTL 4 offered Blok to present two of its shows, the art programme Studio Rembrandt and the film programme Bios. However, Blok refused these offers, arguing that these shows were not comparable in status to a talk show. RTL 4 disagreed with the ruling and did not offer Blok a new programme, arguing that it was not possible to do so.

AT5 and return to the KRO (1992–2001) In 1992, Blok featured in the film Dag Jan alongside , , and . In May 1992, Blok started presenting the talk show Station AT5 Live for AT5, a local channel in Amsterdam, after its editor-in-chief wanted her to present the show. violinist Emmy Verhey, South African politician Carl Niehaus and professor Herman Pleij, among others. She also started presenting Lekker lezen, an educational programme about books. In 2001, she featured in the television series Goede daden bij daglicht – Dum Dum Boys. In February 2001, she announced that she would leave Ontbijt TV from July 2001.

Het Sinterklaasjournaal (2001–2023)

Blok was best known for presenting the children's television programme Het Sinterklaasjournaal from its inception in 2001 until 2023. , the programme's creator, called Blok in the summer of 2001 to ask her to present the programme. Boschhuizen wanted it to be presented by someone with a sense of irony who was seen as motherly and reliable, and believed that Blok met these criteria. Blok accepted his offer and presented the programme from its first broadcast in November 2001.

Personal life and death Blok was married to the radio presenter since 2000. They lived together in Aerdenhout. She had two children, a daughter and a son, from a previous marriage with Paul de Bruin, a photographer from Amsterdam whom she married in 1992. She was an atheist and did not believe in the afterlife or Heaven, stating in an interview from 1996 that "I believe that the only thing that remains after death is that you continue to exist in the memory of people who are still alive".

Blok suffered from cancer for which she had undergone a nose amputation. The cancer returned on an undisclosed date within January 2025. She died on the evening of 2 March, at the age of 67.

Honours Mark Verheijen presents Blok with the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2024. Blok was awarded the honour for her charity work and work in television.At the 2013 edition of the , Blok was awarded the Gouden Stuiver award for presenting Het Sinterklaasjournaal, which won that year's nomination for best children's programme. At the 2022 and 2023 editions of the , Blok was awarded the Favoriete Ster Jeugdprogramma award after she won an audience vote on both occasions.

In December 2024, Blok was made a knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau for her charity work and work in television. She was presented the award by Mark Verheijen, the mayor of Wijdemeren (which includes her birthplace Nederhorst den Berg), at an event attended by her family and her castmates from Het Sinterklaasjournaal.