VRT 1's documented 2026 productions include real people meeting in a shared setting and actors creating a fictional family story. Hotel Romantiek, Restaurant Misverstand and Badgast illustrate those different forms of Flemish television.
A hotel, farm or holiday island can create a setting for personal encounters, but the program's purpose changes what those encounters mean.
At a glance
| Reference | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current public name | VRT 1 |
| Participant romance | Hotel Romantiek |
| Shared work series | Restaurant Misverstand |
| Fictional drama | Badgast |
Hotel Romantiek creates room for later-life relationships
VRT's introduction to the 2026 Hotel Romantiek season takes twenty-four single people aged sixty-five and over to the Spanish Pyrenees. Sven de Leijer, Gloria Monserez and Philippe Geubels accompany them at a former monastery converted into a hotel.
Activities and dates create opportunities for new connections, while participants also discuss earlier loves and losses. The format therefore includes memory as well as the possibility of a new relationship.
This is a participant-based entertainment production. Its appeal lies in the individuals' encounters and stories, rather than a scripted couple following an already written plot.
Restaurant Misverstand follows work and everyday experience
The 2026 Restaurant Misverstand production moves to a renovated farm in Diksmuide. Eight participants with young-onset dementia work in the restaurant and encounter farm tasks, with Dieter Coppens and Stephanie Planckaert accompanying them.
Chef Seppe Nobels and his kitchen team remain part of the setting. VRT also documents professional support from the Expertisecentrum Dementie Vlaanderen within the production.
Participants and people close to them share experiences alongside the work. The program's premise concerns what those individuals can do and how they describe their lives; it is not evidence that restaurant work treats dementia or produces a particular medical outcome.
Badgast turns a holiday into fiction
Badgast follows Vince, a divorced professional diver played by Tom Waes, and his teenage daughter Zoë, played by Freya Van Campenhout. Instead of a promised trip to Curaçao, they end up on Terschelling, where family tensions meet secrets and danger.
VRT describes the series through parenthood, identity, honesty and the relationship between islanders and tourists. Here, an apparently ordinary holiday is the setting for an invented dramatic story.
Keeping that distinction clear matters when exploring the collection: Hotel Romantiek follows possible relationships among participants, Restaurant Misverstand follows a supported shared experience, and Badgast uses actors and a script to build family suspense.
Useful answers
What age group does VRT identify for the 2026 Hotel Romantiek participants?
Its official introduction describes twenty-four single participants aged sixty-five and over, traveling to the Spanish Pyrenees.
Is Badgast an account of real holiday participants?
No. It is a fictional series, with Tom Waes as Vince and Freya Van Campenhout as his daughter Zoë, combining family drama and danger on Terschelling.