De Mol: "Discretion and strategy are like positive traits for a lawyer"
Anyone who watched De Mol this year will immediately recognise her: Sarah Loos, lawyer and the saboteur on duty to be unmasked. For the first time, the lawyer in the game was not the classic lightning rod, but effectively the Mole. And according to her, this is not a problem for the profession's image: "If I did my role as the Mole well, it would just show that I can be discreet and strategic - just positive qualities for a lawyer."
How did people close to you react to your participation in The Mole?
Sarah Loos: I had said as an excuse that I was in Shanghai for work. But then when my surroundings didn't hear from me for weeks, some did start to question that explanation, because they did know that De Mol had long been something I really wanted to do.
Everyone was polite enough not to ask too many questions about it, but you could sense that they suspected something. And then when it was announced, everyone was super enthusiastic. My girlfriends and family also really followed it closely. They were fully into those polls, discussions about who could be the Mole, that kind of thing.
A lot of them immediately thought I was the Mole. They said that that would be something for me. But apparently that is something that happens to many candidates - that those around them think they are either the Mole or going to win. So maybe that wasn't even meant that personally. But yes, when it really came out that I was the Mole, I got nothing but enthusiastic reactions.
Did you actually think about that beforehand? The combination of your role as a lawyer and then also as a Mole - did that give you extra motivation to do well, or did it rather make you hesitate to participate?
Sarah Loos: Yes, of course you think about that for a while. Especially: how are clients going to react? How are colleagues and other people in my professional environment going to deal with it? Not so much because of the fact that I would be the Mole, but rather just because I was participating in a TV programme.
But in itself, I did not find the very idea of being the mole a disadvantage. On the contrary - if I did it well, it would show that I can be discrete and strategic. And those are precisely qualities that are seen positively as lawyers, I think.
"If I did my role as Mol well, it would just show that I can be discreet and strategic - just positive traits for a lawyer."
How do you personally look at the fact that the cliché about lawyers might be reinforced just a little bit by the fact that - as a lawyer - for once you were really the mole?
Sarah Loos: Well, in the past, the makers of the programme always said, "We're not going to choose a lawyer as the Mole." Usually lawyers were rather seen as lightning rods - people who were suspected to be the Mole, when it was someone else with a more subtle background.
But this year they just wanted to break that pattern, choosing to make the 'typical lightning rod' effectively the Mole. Precisely because that would be unexpected, and would give the game a different dynamic.
Of course, it is often jokingly said, "Lawyers are paid to lie, so they're pretty good at that." Alexy also made that comment in the programme - clearly as a joke. And I think most people who know what a lawyer actually does also recognise that as a joke and can put it into perspective.
Of course, there will always be people who take comments like that literally. But in my experience, that certainly does not apply to the people I work with professionally. I work mostly with other professionals, and in that environment that cliché is actually hardly alive.
"And I think most people who know what a lawyer actually does also recognise that as a joke and can put it into perspective."
Was there a moment during The Mole when you were enjoying yourself so much that you almost forgot you were actually the mole?
Sarah Loos: Yes, especially in the moments when there was no filming, I really felt at peace. Then I didn't have to play a role for a while, just be myself. Of course I was on guard against giving anything away, but the secret was so well 'wrapped up' that I was never really afraid of it.
In the evenings, we were all good at turning the knob. Of course I had to stay sharp during the assignments - being a candidate and mole at the same time is intense. But once we sat down at the table, the mole books filled in and put away, it was really fun. Then it was about everything but the game.
I was never really grilled by another candidate, which actually made it quite comfortable for me.
In previous interviews, you said, "I hope no one questions my credibility." In retrospect, do you feel that happened?
Sarah Loos: Actually, no. During the eight to nine weeks the programme ran, I hardly got any reactions. Occasionally, a client would send something, like: "Hey, I saw you in De Mol," or "Good job!" But that remained limited.
Only when it became known that I was actually the Mole did I suddenly get a flood of e-mails. People who had been following the programme were then suddenly making themselves heard. What struck me most was how professional everyone had been until then - hardly anything was said during the broadcasts, and all communication remained businesslike.
Afterwards, I did get many positive reactions, even from lawyers I did not know personally or who were involved in files I was working on. Many people said they didn't expect it at all. They usually made a quick comment or joke, and then immediately switched back to work - business as usual, really.
I certainly don't feel that people take me less seriously or find me less professional as a result.
"Sometimes it does get a little uncomfortable, for example when you enter the court and someone says: 'Watch out, here's the Mole!'"
During the eliminations, you could often see how emotional everyone was. Some viewers then wondered, "Are these people really that attached to each other now?" Did you feel the same way? Were there moments when you really struggled because you knew you had deceived someone?
Sarah Loos: Yes, absolutely. But it's not like I deliberately went harder on certain people than others. I never thought, "I'm going to mislead that one extra." The difference was more in who did start to suspect me and who did not at all. And then of course it is spicy when someone who is not on to you at all has to go home - you do feel a bit responsible for that.
It's also not that I could always judge perfectly what made someone drop out. Sometimes people get into tunnel vision by pure chance, and then it's just bad luck. Of course, as a Mole, you do have a plan: you know roughly where you want to go, and you try to stick to it. I improvised very little - I usually knew pretty well when I could sabotage something and how far I could go.
With some candidates, I just felt I had a bit more freedom. Els, for example, who didn't suspect me at all - so there I could be a bit more unsubtle. Pedro had that too. With Michèle it was different: she already had me as a prime suspect at some point. So with her I had to be much more careful. I could take fewer risks and had to approach the assignments more subtly.
In the episode explaining how you were molested as a Mole, you were suddenly seen laughing with the Mole case on your lap in the helicopter. Were there any moments where you thought, "Oy, here I almost betrayed myself in my enthusiasm"?
Sarah Loos: Yes, there were. I really did question that afterwards. Not so much by what I said, but rather by my facial expressions....
I also don't think anyone at the time thought, "That one's laughing, that one's suspicious." We just often amused ourselves, even during the trials. We had so much fun together that laughter happened rather spontaneously. Like during that helicopter flight over Bangkok - all three of us were just super enthusiastic. We packed that suitcase and it didn't feel suspicious at the time. We all felt: this is a blissful moment.
Nice that you were able to enjoy it so much despite those stressful moments, while also having to stay very focused.
Sarah Loos: Yes, and that was really deliberate. I had said to myself beforehand, "I really want to experience this too." Of course I had to take my job as a Mol seriously, but I also didn't want to be under constant stress. In the past, other Moles sometimes went wrong because of too much stress, and I really wanted to avoid that. So I really tried to pay attention to that too - keep enjoying myself, without losing focus.
Is there actually a lesson you took away from your participation, something that will always stay with you?
Sarah Loos: Yes, absolutely: living without a mobile phone is really so much better than living with one. You are there with a group of people, together 24/7, without any distractions. No news, no notifications, no to-do's... Just being really present, in the moment. That was perhaps the biggest revelation for all of us.
I sometimes laughingly say: everyone should actually take part in De Mol - if only to experience that feeling of complete peace and connection. It really takes you out of the merry-go-round of everyday life for a while. And that is wonderful.
"You also know: you're never going to be able to experience that complete peace in that way again, because it just doesn't fit into normal life."
Your boss called your performance in The Mole a demonstration of your empathy. Do you often notice this yourself in your work?
Sarah Loos: Yes, absolutely. I also read somewhere that it was said, "Sarah is not someone you expect to be able to lie so convincingly, she seems to have so much empathy for her fellow contestants." And honest? That's kind of true. I think my strong empathy is just my strength - also in my work.
I empathise immensely with cases. If something goes wrong or a case turns out badly, I can really lie awake because of it. So yes, I feel everything very intensely. And precisely because of that, I think I was also good at molesting. Because I empathise so much with a role, I can portray it convincingly, and being attuned to the emotions of my fellow candidates makes it possible to assess how they will react to my actions. The same empathy that makes me an involved lawyer also just helped me play my role as a mole believably.
"That isolation has something beautiful too - it really is your experience, very personal. But at the same time, it is sometimes tough, because you carry it all by yourself."
What was it actually like to keep that role of mole a secret for so long, when in everyday life you just set great store by transparency, trust and empathy?
Sarah Loos: That was actually unfortunate, yes. It also makes such a unique experience a bit lonely. At first you don't even get to tell people you participated. And then when the candidates are finally revealed, you're still not allowed to reveal anything about what happened - let alone say you were the mole.
That really creates a kind of distance, even from yourself. You experienced something intense, but you can't really share it with anyone. Even in conversations, it remained superficial, because others didn't dare to continue asking and I couldn't say anything. As a result, it feels like that whole adventure is still somewhat separate from my 'normal' life.
You also notice that only the people who were there really understand what it was like. That's why I think the candidates of each season have such a strong bond - because they went through the same thing, and only they know how it feels.
That isolation has something beautiful too, it really is your experience, very personal, but at the same time it is sometimes heavy, because you carry it all by yourself. Especially as a mole, if you know that you have to carry that secret alone. Then you do feel: this is not just a game - it really is something you take with you emotionally.