01x11 - Episode 11

[bunniefuu]

Dear viewer, may I invite you
to discover

how Destination X
came to be?

A program
in which ten candidates started

an unprecedented road trip
through Europe

without knowing
exactly where they were.

Good morning, what's the destination?
- No idea.

That's quite exciting.

For 24 days, the candidates' feet were shaken
and they did everything

the crew asked of them.

Okay, put on your glasses.

Today we're reversing roles
and the candidates are allowed

to ask all the questions to the crew.

They had no idea
what they had signed up for.

But that also applies to
the entire team behind Bestemming X.

Everyone was looking at each other:
How are we going to do this?

And suddenly all hell breaks loose.

Sometimes swearing.

f*ck, we're not making it.

Oh no. I feel it.

I've been sniffling all evening.

At this moment, you already know more than
the crew did on the day before this adventure.

Sit back and get to know the team behind...

Destination X.

Hello, everyone. Tomorrow, a game show will be filmed here,

with ten candidates who have
no idea what they're going to do.

They will arrive
at Kortrijk airport,

but what they don't know is that
everyone else around them are actors.

You are those actors.

It's very important during that scene
that it really looks like an airport here.

There will be no cameras visible.

They are hiding.
Everything is hidden camera.

The candidates will find themselves
in a small hidden camera situation.

Good morning, I'm Jef.
I am the eleventh candidate.

No one knows that yet.
So... Exciting.

I think I have arranged
the best spot in the house for you.

Every candidate will pass by here
in a moment.

That will stand out.

There are a lot of extras,
but also many candidates.

I'm not telling you who they are yet.
It's up to you to figure it out.

You can already size up
the competition for the next few days.

Okay, great.

It's day one and the candidates don't know
what's going to happen.

Exciting. So let's get started.

Okay, guys. We're going to clear the set.
Everyone to positions.

Dear passengers, due to unforeseen
circumstances, we are forced to

cancel the flights to Porto and Frankfurt.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

It's begun, guys.

Is that good?

There you go.

How on earth did you come up with
the idea

to cram ten people into a bus
and travel through Europe?

Actually, the idea mainly arose

from seeing how quickly my children
got bored

and at a certain point
I just said:

Look, guys. You have thirty minutes.
Grab your backpack.

We're going somewhere,
but I'm not telling you where.

They immediately found that very exciting.
We're heading towards Zaventem

and towards Antwerp.
But what happened?

Around the bend, I drove
to Schiphol after all.

And then we were finally on our way
to an unknown destination.

I tried to hold on to that feeling
as long as possible, until we boarded the plane.

It was actually really cool to see:

Can I manage to do with my children
what I wanted to do in the program?

Can I make them believe
that they are, for example, in England,

while we were actually in Portugal?

It was all inspiration
that led to

us building the format
as it is today.

I remember that we, as a team,
ended up in Croatia for another one of our TV programs.

We found ourselves in Pula,
at a certain point.

And there we saw a very beautiful building
that reminded us strongly

of a building we also know
from Italy, from Rome.

Namely the amphitheater there. And in
that way, those deceptions also grew.

So that deceptive layer.

The idea of the bus
only came very late.

For a long time, they searched for: We're going
to transport people blindly through Europe.

And at first, the idea was to use
different means of transportation.

But ultimately, eight months before we
had to start filming, Vince suddenly said...

Just buy a bus.
There are many parties in Belgium

who would love to participate.
Check that out once.

Okay, yes. Let's just buy a bus,
because that's actually the only way

to still roll out that format
as we want it,

with one hundred percent control
over the windows that open and close.

I really can't see anything.
- I can't see anything anymore.

It's tinted.

The elimination that we absolutely wanted
to integrate at the top of the bus...

and a separate space
for the VIP and the director.

What the f*ck? This is crazy.

Yes, suddenly two weeks later
we had bought a bus.

So there was a lot of last minute
tweaking done to that project.

But it did make it happen.

You might not think it,
but we started from a FlixBus.

Those big green buses
that everyone will know.

That's the bus that became Destination X
in the end.

Luckily, we removed the green
and made it nice and black.

We took everything out and basically
started with an empty bus.

Then we pulled in up to five kilometers
of cable.

From front to back and back again.

Most of those cables
go to the front,

because that's where we were,
in the control room.

It's just us.

It was a set of four
square meters, not much bigger,

where there was room for four people.

That's where I sat.
Next to me was a cameraman.

And on the other side
there was a sound man.

To actually capture the whole thing
on film together.

What was also a good idea about that bus,

is that you can easily film people in that bus
with fixed cameras.

Then people forget about those cameras.

And then you can much more easily
make it real reality.

Who is the showrunner?
- Sam.

That could also be such a good IT guy.
- Yes.

If you look at everything
that's in that bus,

what we've all put in there,
how it all came together,

then... maybe we got lucky,

but it's really fantastic
that we succeeded.

I thought the adventure was awesome.
Especially the games and activities.

But who came up with those games and tips
about the locations?

There isn't just one person
who comes up with all those games.

That was a long-term project.

There is an editorial team that ultimately
also writes the scenarios.

I hope they all fit in.

Even though it's a reality show, you still have to
write out all those assignments.

The train is going to ride. Choo-choo.

Ah. Yes, yes. Yes, I got it. I got it.

I think we have it. Rewrite...

So all those first letters of those songs
form a sentence?

If you put them in the right order
and you take the first letter,

then you get: You are in Slovenia today.
- You're a genius.

Unbelievable, right?
- Unbelievable. Wow.

What you see on TV
is always the finished product.

What people don't see is the year before.

The testing, editing, production,
stunt teams, climbing teams...

People don't see that
and they don't need to see it.

If they see it
and don't realize how much work
went into it, then it's well done.

Here. Yes, please. Come on, come on.

Oh, f*ck.
- Don't fall, okay.

Before you embark on an adventure
with a group of fifty, sixty people,

there have already been several trips
to those specific locations.

You discover a region
and once you're there,

you quickly become immersed
in a kind of feeling and experience.

You can be inspired anywhere.

We've even seen some places
two or three times beforehand,

so that we encounter as
few surprises as possible

when we film there.
Because surprises always happen.

The games are all tailored
to the locations

and the chosen route
to Destination X.

The entire journey is pre-run
by the crew

to discover any pitfalls.

Okay?

I haven't really seen things
that were unattainable.

The difficulty I did find,
that was really the biggest challenge,

was Venice.

Forward, forward. Take it easy.

That bus won't make it.

You can't go to that square.
Not with so many people. Really crazy egg.

Then we're there with five guys
and we say: You know what?

We'll just put that bus
on a pontoon on the water.

Wow.

Wonderful.

The bus is just in Venice.
Fantastic. The St. Mark's Square.

Just check that.
It's really a beautiful day too.

Then everyone will happily eat something together
and we'll stroll through Venice until late,

where everything is dead.

And that's funny,
because then new games are developed.

Suddenly it's quiet. 'Hey, we can
do something here. What are we going to do?'

Then a game emerges.

The creators are always surprised
by the locations.

Thus, the peaceful canals
of Venice at night inspire.

To a mysterious quest
on the water.

Yes, here. Stop, stop, stop.

And an Austrian lake
becomes the setting

for a life-sized game of goose.

The game of goose, which seems super easy
au fond, a wipeout on a lake...

Except that a lake
is forty meters deep in some places,

five meters deep in others.

And it is anchored with cords
to large stones below.

But to get it straight in the lake,
it took us three days

to hang a drone above it
to see:

The lower left corner is hanging slightly crooked.

Divers descend, moving the concrete blocks
with large air cushions...

And so each game and location
forms a unique challenge.

During preparation,
every effort is made

to ensure that on the day of truth,
the game runs flawlessly.

These games must be watertight.

And you will brief them
in various ways.

You will brief your crew on them.

You will brief the extras who participate.

Once the photo is taken,
no more photos will be produced.

Just a photo of the garage door
with the number 385 on it.

And that's the clue to go downstairs,
three floors down.

Smile.


- Give me that one.

You can tell your crew very different things
than you can tell your candidates.

Things they're not supposed to know yet,
but are important for the crew.

With your candidates, you actually give
more guidelines, rules of the game.

You can't say: Do it like this, this and this.

The goal is for you as a duo

to find the seventh
person as quickly as possible.

The duo that finds it first,

will receive a fantastic clue,
along with that person.

Consider this game
as a kind of escape room.

Come on, let's just go there.

Here, here. Come, come.

I am here.

Everywhere we went, we saw many things
covered with black tape.

You must have had a super crazy team

that was solely
occupied with that.

We cover everything with tape,
so we have tape teams with us.

We, the set decorators and
cameramen, also did that sometimes...

Everyone helped where they could.

That is simply incredible

how many location-hiding things
you can see around.

Still, there are the signposts
that are still hidden somewhere...

You spent days on location scouting.
You think you've seen everything,

but it's possible that you
come across something unexpected

that you hadn't anticipated at all.

It goes really far. Sometimes,
height workers had to be hired

to cover up large billboards.

A little bit ill*gal,
but still managed.

Everything for the job.

Then sometimes it's just waiting for the cast.

A half-hour delay
due to technical difficulties.

We'll give that child a name.

Along the way, we discovered that those candidates
didn't catch on quickly

that we could make a mistake
once in a while.

And it was also very convenient
to make use of that here and there.

At one point, there was
a very important sewer cover

that suddenly
appeared under our feet.

"Oh no. It literally says
the city we're in."

It's possible that there are coincidences
that some candidates notice.

I don't mind.
- If you see it, you see it.

Maybe we can turn it around,
so it's not facing the camera.

That weighs a ton.

In Croatia, in Umag, the candidates
were at a beach. It was very beautiful.

And there was a kind of water bottle
hanging from a tree,

which they could use to shower.
It was for the surfers or something.

Zeno was washing himself underneath it.

And then we thought: ah, sh*t. That water bottle
effectively says Croatia on it.

I don't know if he saw it.

You're constantly deceiving,
you know.

And at a certain point, you don't even know
what's real and what's not.

That's why the best thing
you can do as crew

if things go wrong in that regard,
is to just stay calm.

Because there are deceptions,
there are things that are real...

So what's real and what's not?
That's for them to decide.

We also wanted to give the candidates
a tool

to keep track of their notes,
to gather reminders...

They could save all the information
on a smartphone.

But of course,
if we give people a smartphone,

wherein they can see:
I open a map and there I am...

Of course, that's not the intention.

So we collaborated with
Mobco for that.

That's a company
that ensured

that those smartphones were fully
customized to our needs.

Locations, maps, other apps
were never available.

In episode 7, the candidates were allowed
to make a phone call home.

Then Mobco could log in from Belgium,

and say that those apps
were temporarily allowed.

And they could continue with that.

Did you have to make many
major changes during the filming?

Really have to change
things? Not so extreme.

The only thing you really
can't control is the weather.

We hit the jackpot
in Austria. Unfortunately.

I had prepared for three days.
The whole board looked perfect.

We arrived and some mountain wind came up.

The lake starts to ripple.
The board game falls apart.

Everyone was ready on that lake to film the wipeout.

And suddenly all hell breaks loose.

This is not pleasant to sh**t.
It looks terrible.

Yeah, it was really... And everyone
was looking at each other: How are we going to do this?

Then I quickly think:
I don't want to sh**t here now.

For this episode,
you need good weather.

If you leave them on now, they will...

You'll be waiting a long time.

It's coming from there. I checked it
on the radars and there's still a lot coming.

It's not like it suddenly stops, you know.

Of course, you have to keep going.
That train has to keep going.

Or in this case, the bus has to keep going.
There's a complete plan mapped out.

Can we move? How do we move?
How does that game stay upright?

It was really bad weather
that morning too.

The bus from that direction will arrive soon.
It stops here at the bus shelter.

The conversion may begin.

At some point, the hoses
and such had to be tested.

You say it's not okay.

Ugh, how are we going to do this?

The trip is seriously
in jeopardy from the start.

Everything is planned
down to the last detail.

and a significant delay
in the schedule

can cause the whole trip
to fall apart.

'Pff, how are we going to do this?
This is completely useless.

We can't stand on it. That image
looks terrible. Everyone will get wet.'

Then we've decided:
We'll reverse the schedule.

We're not sh**ting today.
We'll sh**t tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow morning will be better, but
it will start raining again from 11am.

Guys, we're going to
take you back down.

And then it's really like that... It's decided
and you see every department: Bam.

Everyone sits at a table.
The cameramen start planning.

The production starts planning.
The first AD starts re-planning. Crazy.

Those are the moments that give me
goosebumps. Then the whole engine starts running.

Then you mainly look for solutions
that ensure

that you don't jeopardize
the sh**ting day of the next day.

So we're going to ask
everyone: Are you willing to

wake up three or four hours earlier tomorrow

to hopefully play that challenge again
at sunrise?

And I remember well, it was
still bad weather that morning.

You're going to prepare with your team
on the water.

And not even ten minutes later, when
everyone was ready to play the game,

it was as if God called out to us and said: Come on,
let's give it a go here.

I remember well
when the sun broke through.

You could also see in the candidates
that it really made a difference.

During the journey we really changed
into needy children.

"When are we going to eat?
Where is my luggage?"

And there was always
a whole team ready.

But was it really intended
that we would be taken care of like this?

As a candidate supervisor, you become
a bit of a parent figure, at least for me,

like the mom or dad of the set.

So, guys, we're going to the bathroom
for those who need to go.

Actually, we have provided
a super cool pair of glasses here.

So you can set those up.

The idea is actually that you
don't see anything, except for your own feet.

And then we'll form a train.

I can see my feet.
That's sometimes fun.

Yes, just straight ahead. Okay, good.

Do you have everything with
you? Warm sweater? Helmet?

Yes.
- Okay.

Still try to keep things a bit clean.

Jef, do you need a sip of water?
- That's always welcome.

Here, I'll just give you a bottle.

In our lives, we are rarely children anymore.

That was very crazy,
because you were in the here and now.

I think the candidates also experience that:
they go back to the here and now for a moment.

They have no phone, no contact with the
outside world. It all falls away for a moment.

That's really from your childhood.

And in a way, those candidates also become children again because of it.

Who is it?

Leave me alone.

Which was sometimes important for this program,

because they couldn't just go pee outside.

They are in need of assistance
and require everything.

Shannen?
- Steffie?

May I have my bag, my purse?

Sorry, but when we go to the bathroom, can I
please go first? It's really urgent...

I'll take you if it's
that urgent. Stay here.

Listen to me carefully. And now a step.

The last one. Yes, that's the last one.

Come on, let's go. Follow nicely.
- Of course.

You should always think from the perspective of
the crew or the cast.

Okay, now we're going to do this.
What do they need?

Do the candidates need their mobile phones?
Guys, make sure you have your phone within an hour.

Make sure you wear a hat, have warm pants,

Clean socks, dry shoes...

Wouldn't it be better to use your wide-angle lens
for my chest?

Natifa, do you have your glasses?

That's part of it and it's really a bit
of a scout leader, chiro leader, mom.

Have fun.
- Thank you.

I think I got some of that glass in my...
It really hurts a lot.

There, that's settled.

During the X, the candidates are also nervous.

Then it's important that you give them
a word of encouragement.

It's important that they feel
comfortable at all times

and that they still enjoy
what they do in Destination X.

Do you need anything else?
- No, that's it.

Nothing is what it seems.

So the fact that we pamper them
is a luxury they deserve.

So cool.

We also ask a lot of those candidates.

We ask: Look, just give up
your free life for now.

We're going to put you in a closed bus,
but we'll take good care of you.

There is a step.
- I almost fell.

No, I had you.
I'm going to put headphones on you.

Of course, the production
is closely related to the cast.

You really build a bond of trust
and get to know those people better

than your own wife exactly at the time
when you're away. That's really cool.

This is really too good.
Watch out, Gino. Move a little to the left.

One after the other, okay? That's better.

Whoever came up with the sadistic idea
of those mirror sunglasses?

Yeah, that's with the mirror, right?

What people at home don't know is that
when those glasses are activated...

You suddenly see nothing
and then you mostly see yourself.

And then it's like you're
nose-to-nose with a mirror.

Yes, that's terribly confronting.

At the beginning, I think two years ago,
the first type of glasses,

the prototype, so to speak,
was a kind of ugly ski goggles.

And then I thought:
uh-oh, this doesn't look good.

At a certain point,
about six months later or so,

we met a guy named Jo.
He was somewhere hidden in the Kempen.

And that was immediately the feeling of:

Okay, good. You will probably be able to

solve the problems of a too big, ugly glasses for us.

Byebye.

What is that?

That is quite suffocating.

What I found very important is:

how can we capture those emotions
when you are constantly blinded

and how can we technically solve that?

Then there was the idea
to put a mini camera in it.

Actually, it was very simple. With Jo,
it was like: Okay, we have a problem.

And Jo always said to me:
Oh, but that's not a problem.

I found that quite amusing.

Jo simply took all his equipment from his lab,
put it in a van,

and at every location
where we had to sleep,

he took everything out
and started printing

and further perfecting everything.
It was really genius to see.

Watch out, your pen is on fire.

The extras during the games
could talk about everything as if it were real.

How were they briefed?
Because it was really impressive.

How did I brief those people?

Initially, if it's in Belgium,
it's very simple.

You simply explain
the basics of the game

and you tell them
that they absolutely cannot speak.

Of course not,
because that's part of the game.

But abroad
we've had a few instances...

First and foremost,
the language barrier is a thing.

And then you have to explain very clearly:
You cannot reveal

what you're doing. Also,
very important, you cannot speak in your own language.

For example, the carabinieri.
They were actually Croatians.

But they still had to speak Italian.

Am I speaking English or Italian?
- Italian.

Italian. Perfect.

I say we need to check everything.
- And I'll intervene.

"Stop, we're from Belgian television.
You can't get on the bus."

I'm trying to keep you off the bus.
- I'm saying it's not okay.

You say they can keep their glasses on
and you say that's not okay.

We need to check all passports.

Do you speak English?
- We're from Belgian television.

I speak English.
- Take it easy.

I'm calm, but I'm a bit tense.

Oh, my god.
- This is really serious.

Okay, put on your glasses.
- It's really serious.

That could still go wrong.
It's always a gamble.

But I think they got away with it.
Especially since the crew was also involved.

in that story.
They all had to get off the bus.

Okay. Devisscher Steffie Valerie.
- Steffie is here.

One by one, both crew and candidates.
That makes it more real for them.

I think that was really customs.
- I think so too.

Yeah, I actually think so too.
- We're across the border.

Well, there you go.
- Yeah.

Well done. Well done, guys.

I think it can be successful.

I think everything is perfect.

Oh man. What is that?
It smells like China.

How are you? And?

I myself was also an extra where it was needed.

For example, in Slovenia
I played Donald Trump.

with someone I already know
from another project in the past.

That was my wife, Melania.
And that's funny. That's cool.

You can help everywhere and everyone does that
from the whole crew. And that's really nice.

He's driving here. He's very happy.

Then he steps out
and hands you the flowers.

You take the roses
and hit him on the head with them.

And then you say: Gigli.
- Gigli, okay.

I said lilies.
What is this? I don't want this.

Every time you hit him: Gigli, gigli.

Take it easy.
- I don't want this.

Actually, I wonder,
the games we were able to play,

were really well-made.
Did you test them yourselves?

At some point, you and your team
came up with a game.

Of course, those games
always need to be tested.

It's a high-altitude game
with a rope course.

You have to push each other off.

We really tested that game
a few times beforehand.

The stunts we did in Zollverein
at the industrial center,

especially the suspension bridge
we hung over the cooling tower,

is a game developed in Belgium.

At first, we hung the suspension bridge
between two cooling towers.

Then it turned out to be about 200 meters,
that suspension bridge.

A suspension bridge of 200 meters is not
so stable, especially with a lot of wind.

So we came up with a different plan.
We'll put it in the cooling tower.

If you subject a candidate
to extreme conditions,

then you must have tried it yourself.

Then we tested it in Belgium

to, for example, see at ten meters
how tight the bridge should be

so as not to have an impossible test

where everyone immediately falls off,
because then you don't have TV.

And then we tested the bridge a week
in advance in Zollverein.

So we are installing a suspension bridge, right?

And is it going smoothly?

Yes, it was heavier than
we had imagined beforehand.

To come back a week later,
to rebuild...

Kick his leg away.

Hit his foot.

So there were already three versions
of the bridge made

for the ultimate version that we
then played on the spot.

Change outfit.
- Us?

Outfit?
- Quick, give me your blouse.

Then it was the raft and the train.

You're wearing my T-shirt inside out.

I swapped clothes with Wim
on the train.

To test if it was possible,
to change clothes in a car.

I had tested it
a few times in my past,

but now I tested it professionally
and it is possible,

to take off your clothes.

Come on Jasper, say it.
- We're done.

Yes, that's so typical.
You travel around with all these 'real men'.

And at some point, the snakes and c*ck

had to be tested for their heart rate.

Oh, f*ck. Oh, yuck.

I'm really scared of this.
I hate snakes.

And that was asked in the group,
but no one responded.

Everyone was so busy, busy, busy.

They have to sit on my arm.
- Okay.

They are different from each other.
- I see it.

It works. It goes 33 beats higher
than your resting heart rate.

They can't... Not in my bra, right?
- Okay.

Jasper always with his big mouth.
'I'll do that.'

But when the little animal
came out of the cage, he was gone.

So I just did it myself.

I really find that very disgusting.

He makes noise. Oh, I can feel him.

Do you like it?
- No.

For us, every day was
a bit of a new adventure,

but what was happening
behind the scenes?

What did your day look like?

Our day as production
is actually different every day.

Very often we start with a plan

that halfway through
turns out not to be the plan anymore.

For example, in Slovenia
they briefed us

that Jefke had to be painted.
Oh, the puppet then.

Hello.

The Jef-pop's legs and arms
were still white.

So they actually had to be
painted.

But of course, in Slovenia,
Saturday night, no store open.

So we drove to Italy for that.

We spent six hours
in the car for paint.

We painted that doll in the evening, in the dark,
with the headlights of the cars on.

We did it because it had to be dry
for filming the next day.

But because painting took long enough,

we ended up with a flat car battery,

so we had to call for new cars

and make sure the batteries were charged.

Fun. Challenging. Sometimes frustrating.

Good morning.

The bus from that direction will arrive soon.
It will stop here at the bus shelter.

The windows will open. That doll sitting here
was stolen last night.

The windows will close again.

At some point, they hear a heartbeat
on the bus.

Something comes to life. They don't know what yet.

The windows open again.
At that moment, a whole team

has already changed all the posters
hanging here to this one,

and of course, you are also sitting here for it.
Everything comes to life.

It was really beautiful to see a transition
from a complete bus shelter

in sixty seconds.
And to see a participant

who embodies the role of Know You Can,
pushing boundaries of self-confidence,

making it happen on screen
by walking into the program.

Doors open in three, two, one.

Yuck.
- Ew, that's really gross.



Okay, windows are closed.
Let the transformation begin.

Everything is ready outside.
- The windows are opening. Three, two, one.

See, I told you.
- Oh, my god. What the f*ck.

That's really bad.
- What the f*ck?

Wait, do I...
- Holy sh*t.

On an empty stomach, you can't
move forward, of course.

Where is everything?
- That's a nice time to eat.

If this were our lifestyle for a
longer period, it's really unhealthy.

Let the sun into your heart.

That moment, it gave me goosebumps.

Open the windows. Open the windows, Manu.

Ja, I found that beautiful. Yes.

Day three. We're going to take a long drive
to Austria.

In addition, we're going to do a ballet
with an AXA car and the bus.

We're going to start with AXA, bus, camera.

The bus is going to overtake it
and at that moment the windows will open.

I'll give the cue to Hans.

Okay, you can start
overtaking. Go ahead.

Okay, Sam for all teams.

Manu, open the windows. Open the windows, Manu.

Wait, huh. Do I have to...
- Holy sh*t.

Drive alongside. Good, good.

Backwards. That's it.


- I'm also betting on black.

And the windows may be closed.

Okay, and then the bus
may pass completely.

During the adventure, I kept seeing
new faces every day.

Now I'm curious about how many
crew members we had on the road in total.

The size of the team
was quite large.

Especially for Flemish standards.

Sometimes we had a hundred people on
the set that needed to be coordinated.

Because you are traveling with so many people,
the trip is planned by the hour.

That's our first AD,
our first assistant director,

who makes a 24-day schedule.
That schedule is so important,

because if that schedule is followed,
you make the sh**ting day, otherwise not.

At that moment, you are
a bit of a family to each other.

And everyone is at that moment
suffering very hard.

I also think that sometimes you do more
than just your job at that moment.

That is sometimes very stupid.
Those are very small things.

You also take a cable in your hands
and roll it up.

I do what I can, but you also have to
see work at that moment.

I think the crew still
believes in me.

We agreed to meet here at this table
half an hour ago.

What I always find crazy
about those physical challenges...

The candidates suffer, but the crazy thing is
that the cameramen suffer even more.

They're actually doing
the same thing

and at the same time carrying
an extra twenty kilograms

just to keep up with the
candidates. I find that remarkable.

How hard you... You don't sleep much
and then you do that physically,

I find that very, very impressive.

A lot is expected
from your technical team.

Sound people, camera people...

We're sitting in planes
with loading ramps that open.

You have to swim in the Austrian lake
in water of ten degrees or so.

So you expect a lot from your team,

but on the other hand you also know
that you're taking people

who you know:
Here you can build a house.

People who are still much earlier
awake than you are.

What are the guys doing here?
- Labeling, right.

Work properly, Manu.
- Cleaning up everything.

To start a new day fresh.

People who have been prepping their
camera and technical equipment

an hour in advance. Yes, as far as
I'm concerned, they are like Terminators.

People who just never complain,
never whine.

But guys,
you just have to do it all.

That's showbiz.
- You can say that again.

I've been on the water for two hours.

I often compare TV to a machine

because television is often a network
of gears that have to turn together.

If one of those gears sputters,
the whole machine stops turning.

And then everyone has to wait.
Which can be frustrating sometimes.

But if it does work,
it's really amazing to see.

In Pairi Daiza, in Wallonia,
it was very special.

We had the time from 4am
until 10am,

when people actually
started arriving at the park.

So I remember that after filming,
we had about half an hour

to remove everything with all the camera crew,
technicians, special effects people, and producers

and keep the deception complete.

Not just for the candidates
who were present,

but also for the people themselves,
the visitors of the park.

What I don't understand is how you can
put ten people on a bus

And all the cameras
need to be constantly monitored?

You would need 1,000 eyes for that, right?

That's true. I only have two eyes,
but it's enough to pay attention

and see what's going on.
We're in the control room

in front of two large monitors, and we can
keep an eye on all 33 cameras.

It's just a matter of paying
close attention and listening.

And then we'll make sure
to capture it all on camera.

Today, you need to mark X on the location
where the video message was played.

The exit moment on the bus may be

the most important moment of the episode.

Eventually, it's all about Destination X:

Where am I
and can I mark it on a map?

And that's how we ended up
with Digitopia Group.

We created a map
with certain information

that is and isn't visible.

We say: From now on, when you open the map,
highways or city names are gone.

Then we could simply
turn it on and off with a click.

And that's also very important,

because if we start removing things,
that kind of information,

then the candidate will have a much harder time
at a certain point.

To search for a certain something.

Everywhere we went, we were followed
by a camera crew.

Often when we arrived somewhere, it was
filled with GoPros and all sorts of things.

How many cameras
did you actually bring?

We had a total of forty GoPros.

GoPros are small cameras.
We installed the GoPros.

We also gave them a power bank
to make sure there was no power outage.

So yes, then we display the timecode,
a QR code,

so that all settings are the same.

And that's how we actually start everything
when it's time for action.

On some locations, we also had
a kind of mobile control room.

I'm thinking of the Minis
that were on the train.

There were GoPros hanging everywhere.

And then there were all these cables
underneath the cars leading to the wagon,

where the director and producer
could watch everything that was happening.

Because at that moment, we can't
adjust cameras

or walk up to a candidate to
make adjustments. It's just not possible.

So that's why we really need a control room

to keep an eye on everything
from a distance.

I've thought a few times
during the journey:

If a GoPro fails,
there will simply be no more footage.

From the train, so it is
a very important function.

In addition to the camera crew and sound crew.

Red ones?

Red.

Hi, Ruben. Hello. Ta-da.

Yes.

We were really dropped from one deception
to another,

and the entire set was responsible for that.

Did you always carry that equipment with you,
or where did you always store it?

Aha, we have often asked ourselves that question as well.

Where is everything?

We had four of those big
moving trucks full of props.

And everything had its specific place.
But it was manageable.

For example, Lise was someone on our team

who could just handle the props
in a very neurotic way.

"That prop needs to go in furniture bin 2.
That's in furniture bin 3."

Just like that, we could manage it,

because we really had a lot with us.

It takes two minutes to hang it up.

Including providing a key for the entire thing.

In total, more than 500 trees.


For one person.
So that's about 16, 17 hours of work.

For a game on television
of only three minutes.

The Three Towers was, I think,
our biggest challenge,

because we built a lot there.
Those fake doors.

It goes without saying that we couldn't
smash the real doors.

Those are things we made
on the spot.

Our job can also go very far.
Down to the smallest details.

So that as a viewer,
you might not notice it right away.

But all the tables where they have eaten,
for example at the country house,

Lise fully immersed herself
in the English breakfast.

In the mines, the cart was also
made by our regular construction team,

completely patinated.
It's all actually custom made.

Even all those coals were real coals.

So we brought hundreds of kilos of coal
up there.

You don't see any of that on screen,
but it was terribly heavy.

In Venice, we had to place
fake candles all around the course.

And at the end, we followed the same path
and went to collect the candles.

Then it turned out
that a lot of candles had disappeared.

On the way back, we also saw
our candles on the windowsills

in the apartments everywhere.

So people just really liked
to put them in their homes there.

But this way, a piece of us
remains in Venice.

We already slept very little
during the whole trip,

but every time we went to sleep,
you were still awake,

and when we got up,
you were already busy.

Hence the question: How many hours of sleep
did you have per night?

That's why I didn't keep track of it.

Any rest we could take was welcome,
and we always aimed for it.

I also, at one point in time,
when a game starts,

feel at ease
and everything flows smoothly,

then I can take a power nap.

And I have done this regularly,
which was necessary.

It is true
that with these kinds of programs,

you won't break the world record for sleeping.

You can only do something like this
for a few weeks in a row.

If this were our lifestyle for a
longer period, it would not be healthy.

And sometimes I also feel
that it takes a toll on my body.

So you definitely don't get much sleep
during such a production.

Day 14 of sh**ting.
It's currently 1:10am.

Sleeping standing up.
I've never seen that before.

Why I think we can keep going

is because we had a
fantastic catering team with us.

I think if you give people good food,
it's already half the battle.

It's a nice time to eat, isn't it?

I don't think it should be underestimated
that food,

especially when you're not getting much sleep,
can be a bright spot in your day.

And those people really made sure of that.
Plain and simple.

On a very low flame.

The catering was good.
Fortunately, the catering was really good,

which helped us get through.

Because you can't make progress
on an empty stomach.

So yeah, gotta give a big shout
out to the catering. It was really good.

Riet, who did you bring on your team?

I brought my daughter.
- I already saw that.

And my friend Michel is outside.
- That's your friend?

Hello.
- What are you making?

Today we're making burgers, corn on
the cob, and fried onion rings.

Delicious.

For us, it was often difficult
to distinguish between a real person and an extra.

Did you bring outfits for all those people?

Had you brought outfits for all those people?

In the first episode alone,
there were already forty extras.

So I think I had around, not
exaggerating, eighty costumes with me.

I am a bride.
Look at my beautiful dress for today.

I am a very mean bride.

All styling always came
from Belgium to every country.

So every scene, all those clothes
came from Belgium anyway.

In Belgium, you can ask people
to try something on again.

And you can quickly anticipate.
But when you get there

and you suddenly find yourself
in the middle of nowhere

and a pair of pants, in this case
from the carabinieri, didn't fit,

then I have a big problem of course.

I did have a few pairs of pants with me, but
that man turned out to be a bit wider

than I had hoped.
His crotch couldn't close.

So then I had to use black tape
to close it up

and then put a belt over it with a
g*n in it and then it wasn't so noticeable.

Yes, at that moment I had no choice but
to do that or he would be in his underwear,

so that wasn't an option either.

I have also done Kevin's styling.

I know what he likes.
I know what he wants.

We regularly discuss:
Do you see yourself wearing that?

He just needs to feel really good.

So that when I suggest something,
he wouldn't say: I don't feel comfortable in that.

Otherwise, it will show on camera.

For me, the most beautiful moment
was flying in the stunt planes during the final challenge.

Absolutely the most beautiful moment,
something I will never forget.

But what was the most beautiful moment
for you guys?

I think the finale of Bestemming X.

Because we have all been looking forward to it for 24 days.

Everyone works extremely hard there. You feel so involved and then there's the final,

the change of scenery,
Gino overtook Dorien...

Get in that car quickly, okay?
Get in that car quickly. Do it well.

Get in the car.

That moment, it gave me goosebumps.

I'm so happy to see you.

In hindsight, when you see
that everything has come together...

Wow, what have we
all accomplished together?

Kiss, kiss.

This monk here needs to poop.

Thank you.

Chaos.

Let the sun shine in your heart.

The little cage is opening. Yes.

They need to guide the goose,
guide, guide, guide...

Tom Cruise is coming soon
to do a scene with Kevin.

He's really coming.
- It's a stunt with a hot air balloon.

Let's work a little cleaner, man.

It's something about teamwork and a dream or something.

It relaxes much more
than the yoga class earlier.

Last day, huh.

I have to be honest:
When that was on the air,

I was sniffling all evening.

Out of contentment, huh. Not misery.

Yes, I thought it was beautiful. Yes.

I would start crying again.

Yes, well. It's good, huh. Cut.