Today, Dutch media personality and former Luv' singer Chimène van Oosterhout is blowing out 58 candles!! We wish her a happy birthday!!!
Photo by Marco Rens
Chimène is a mulitalented power woman. She speaks seven languages fluently, her CV is impressive (including a long career on Dutch TV and a brief experience as a Luv' singer), cancer and Covid-19 survivor, actress, yoga instructor, author, vlogger...
Here are the highlights of her life and career
Chimène was born on February 11, 1964 at the Princess Margriet clinic in Willemstad, Curaçao to a Dutch father (Jan van Oosterhout) and an Antillean mother of Indian and Surinamese Creole descent (Conchita van Oosterhout-Fränkel). Her birth was announced the next day in a local newspaper "Amigoe di Curacao : weekblad voor de Curacaosche eilanden":
Amigoe di Curacao : weekblad voor de Curacaosche eilanden - February 12th, 1964
Click here to read the article posted online
At age 7, Chimène moved with her family to the Netherlands. As a teenager, she modelled occasionally. After her A-level, she studied communication and psychology. From 1987 to 1989, she was a PR manager at Club Med. Over the years, she has learned foreign languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Swedish).
In 1996, the ambitious woman sent a videotape to TROS and rapidly became a host on this channel. In 1999, she moved to Veronica TV and its sister channel Yorin. She later presented programs on SBS6, Net5 and RTL 4 until 2018. In 2004, she was filmed with Marga Scheide and Patty Brard as they had a health cure on Ibiza on Patty's Fort (a reality show on Yorin).
Chimène on TROS (1997)
Chimène on Veronica (1999)
Chimène on Yorin (2002)
TV shows hosted by Chimène:
Veronica goes back to the US of A (Veronica, 1999)
Car Wars (Veronica, 1999)
Demolition Cars (Veronica, 2000)
Motor TV (Veronica, 2000 – 2002)
Go Travel (Veronica, 2001)
Yorin Travel (Yorin, 2001–2003)
Gordons Lifestyle (Yorin, 2001)
City Report (Veronica, 2002)
Sterrenbeurs (SBS6, 2003)
Televisiedokter (RTL 4/Yorin, 2005)
Snowmagazine VIPS (SBS6, 2006)
Health Angels (RTL 4, 2006)
4ME (RTL 4, 2010–2014)
Medicaltravel (RTL 4, 2013)
House Vision (RTL 4, 2013–2014)
Sunny Side Up (RTL 4, 2016)
Life Is Beautiful (RTL 4, 2016–2018)
Motor TV in the early 2000s
In addition to the above-mentioned programs, she took part in celebrity TV competitions and all won them:
Peking Express VIPS (NET 5, 2006 winner with Bart Veldkamp)
Wildebeesten (NET 5, 2006, winner)
Top Chef VIPS (RTL 4, 2009, winner)
Vliegende Hollanders: Sterren van de Schans (SBS6, 2013, winner)
Chimène winning the ski jumping competition "Vliegende Hollanders: Sterren van de Schans" in 2013 (with Patty Brard on the jury)
Chimène is also an actress. She appeared in Dutch TV series (Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden, Onderweg naar morgen, Mijn dochter en ik, Het zonnetje in huis and Duo B&B).
In 2000, she had one of the leading parts in the American movie "X- Patriots". Darien Sills-Evans wrote, directed and starred in this romantic comedy about two black American men who travelled to the Netherlands – a place where no one looked like them – in search of self-identity. X-Patriots premiered on June 23, 2001, in Chicago at the AngelCiti Film Festival where it won "Best Film" and be noted in the Chicago Reader as the "Critic's Choice". A successful film festival run followed, with the film picking up usually good reviews and awards that included the LA Weekly Award Best Screenplay 2002, CCI Digital Award for Best Ensemble Cast 2002, Film Finders Maverick Award for Quality Low-Budget Film 2002 (Method Fest), Best Feature Angelciti Chicago 2001, and nominated for the Gordon Parks Award IFP 2001. The last public showing of X-Patriots was in New York City at DCTV's 24-Hour Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.
Chimène and Darien Sills-Evans in "X Patriots"
On February 5, 2003, Chimène gave birth to a son named Lyam.
Since the 2000s, with her own company, this larger than life lady has been involved in PR activities and corporate events for several companies (including Man Trucks en Bussen, 2009 Dakar Rally, Coty Inc Prestige, Oral B, Feenstra and Visma).
Chimène with the Account manager of the year Jos van Willegen (eServiceware) and Ivo Bodenstaff (of Visma) at the Visma Partner Awards on February 6th, 2020
Between 2014 and 2017, she received Hatha yoga training to become a yoga instructor.
The announcement of her recruitment as a Luv' singer in Holland's most-read newspaper "De Telegraaf" on January 4th, 2019, was breaking news. It boosted the most popular Dutch girl group. The Luv' singers were in the spotlight again in every Dutch celebrity gossip magazine (Privé, Story, Weekend and Party) and on entertainment news shows on TV (Shownieuws and 6 Inside (SBS6) and RTL Boulevard (RTL 4).
Announcement of Chimène as a Luv' singer - De Telegraaf (January 4th, 2019)
The female pop trio toured the nostalgia circuit in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Luv' in 2019 - Photo by Govert de Roos
In July 2019, Luv' released a Latin pop-reggaeton single entitled "With Him Tonight" with Latin Grammy-nominated producers Keith Morrison and Manuel Garrido-Lecca.
On February 7, 2020, Luv' (which had not performed since September 2019 due to José Hoebee's illness) informed the media and the public about the interruption of their activities.
On March 1st, 2021, Chimène revealed the trailer of a documentary series entitled "K*T Kanker" on social media after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In this documentary conceived by Filmfactory.nl (Evert den Hartogh and Jacco den Hartogh), she showed her life as a cancer patient.
Since the summer of 2021, she has written monthly columns about her health and private issues for WendyOnline.nl (Wendy van Dijk's online platform specialized in women's issues).
After an important MRI examination related to her breast cancer, Chimène announced her remission on her Instagram account on November 23rd, 2021. This victory was overshadowed by bad news: her father's health got worse. He died of leukaemia on December 26th, 2021.
Chimène is such a courageous lady. We love her and are proud of her!!!
Source: Luv' weblog archives, Delpher Kranten, YouTube, Wikipedia, Chimène van Oosterhout on social media...