De Maagdenclub

Lidewij begins her quest by outing herself as a virgin to her close friends. Together with her friends from her football team, she looks up what the definition of a virgin is in a dictionary. To her surprise, that description is not yet very much adapted to contemporary standards. Via a tip-off from her colleague Chloë, she ends up with Christelle: a woman who Lidewij has interviewed before for ‘Everybody Famous’ and addressed her then in connection with premarital sex. Lidewij also visits her former neighbour Huguette, who remained unmarried all her life, and meets her new neighbours, all four of whom are nuns.

The search for new club members brings Lidewij to ‘the final year’. Seven years ago, she interviewed a class of eighteen-year-olds for ‘Everybody Famous’ and the taboo of premarital sex played an important role then. With any luck, she will know thirty-somethings who are still virgins because of their faith. In addition, Lidewij also comes into contact with an ordained virgin who followed her vocation to become a bride of Christ. Since 7% of over-30s are still virgins, Lidewij takes her chances with her colleagues at VRT and RTBF. Percentage-wise, there should be at least 100 virgins walking around there. A conversation with sex coach and sex toy expert Ruud then brings surprising insights on how we as a society view sexuality.

Because the taboo around virginity is even greater for most men than for women, Lidewij throws her search in a different direction. In the countryside, she looks for men who have never had a relationship and even the red light district of Brussels is not spared. In the Netherlands, she then finds two coaches who help men get rid of their virginity. Both are willing to make an appeal to their clientele. But the search for female club members also continues. Through a tip-off from sex coach Ruud, Lidewij gets to know two fellow sufferers who, like her, suffer from vulvodynia.

Through a new tip-off, Lidewij comes into contact with a deliberately single mum who has a child but has never had sex. And from her neighbours with migration roots, she learns that virginity often has a very different connotation in other countries than it does here. After hinting at asexuality, Lidewij also meets a man who is on the asexual spectrum and has never had sex. Thus, the number of members of the virgin club quietly begins to grow. But because the search is at times laborious, Lidewij also decides to use crude means: a pack of flyers and posters should make the virgin club known to passers-by on the street. But will this new tactic lead to thirty-plus club members?

In the four-part series ‘The Virgin Club’ (broadcasted in October/November 2023), Lidewij Nuitten went in search of thirty virgins over 30 who would like to join her in breaking the taboo around virginity. With eight club members already on tap, the series ended with a big call: who would still like a membership card? In this final episode, Lidewij opens her mailbox and discovers how many more members are joining the virgin club. The variety of stories is already wide: for some, being a virgin is a conscious choice, but for most it is an unintended consequence of how life has turned out. Little self-confidence, unpleasant past experiences, transsexuality and medical blunders or problems also often feature in the stories. High time, Lidewij thinks, to invite all members and sound off together on what unites them: letting go of shame and embracing themselves!