“My feeling was: this is something you have to figure out.”
Roy Donders (33) surprised the Netherlands with a major transformation. He got into a relationship with his Michelle,
became Romi’s father and treated himself to a completely new appearance. In conversation with Glamial, he talks candidly about this gigantic change.
Think it over
“During the corona period, I spent a lot of time at home and started thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. Am I happy? I couldn’t really figure it out. Until I met Michelle in October 2021,” Roy reflects. Although she was in a relationship at the time and he had always dated men until then, the spark still flew.
“It was never a conscious choice to switch. I like to go with the flow and my feeling was: this is something you have to figure out. After that it happened naturally. It just happened that way.” Clearly!
Labels
Michelle was just as welcome to the Donders family as the men Roy had introduced to them up to that point. “They don’t care who I come home with, everyone is welcome,” says Roy. “In the Netherlands we like to put people in a box. But we’ve never been like that in our house.”
As far as Roy is concerned, we could all let go of this compartmentalized thinking a lot more. “Now we are two years later and the stage of disbelief is over, but in the beginning I received a lot of curious questions: how is that possible, what are you, do you still like men? I always said: I’m just Roy. I used to hate it when people labeled me ‘gay’. So now they don’t have to call me ‘bi’ or ‘straight’. I’m just me, let me,” he says.
“If everyone would stop thinking in boxes, then no one would have to justify themselves and everyone could be who they are. You only come to a conclusion about yourself because others want you to. I don’t think that’s important, so I don’t put myself in a box.”
Appearance
In addition, his looks have also changed considerably – not because of Michelle, but because he wanted to, Roy reveals. “When I was first on TV and going from one studio to another, I got used to having my hair done nicely and my face being powdered. I thought that was beautiful and I really immersed myself in it: how could it be even more beautiful? It became normal for me to look like this, even when I had no television appearances. But then I took part in Expedition Robinson in 2019 and saw myself on TV with a beard, wild hair and without make-up and I thought: this is actually a much nicer Roy.”
Luxury B&B suite
Roy’s name recently appeared in the news because of his home beauty clinic. He is now no more and has opened a luxurious wellness B&B suite at home. He says candidly:
“I had a cosmetic clinic at home for three years where I performed various treatments: teeth whitening, fillers, laser hair removal, tattoo removal. I loved seeing how happy that made people, but last year the rules changed. That’s why I can’t do it anymore, but I’m already busy with other things.”
He adds: “People will soon be able to book a room with us with a jacuzzi, swimming pool and Turkish steam bath. So it is nice and busy, but I am only grateful for that.” Clearly!
This article is part of a set of interviews from the latest Glamial, in which, in addition to Roy Donders, we also interviewed Inge Ipenburg and Cynthia Abma about how they changed course. Now in stores!
Interview: Fleur Baxmeier | Image: NL Image
