Tom De Cock (born 23 September 1983) is a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

radio DJ, television host and writer. At the age of 16 he published his first novel "De Openbaring" ("The Revelation").

Radio

In 2008, he started as a radio DJ at the public radio station Donna, where he covered the Saturday afternoon slot from 3 to 8 pm. One year later, the station was shut down and replaced by MNM, where De Cock had a late night talkshow called '' De Cock Late Night'', and a weekend programma named "Weekend De Cock". Since September 2012 De Cock has his own evening drivetime show "Planeet De Cock" ("Planet De Cock") from 4 to 7 pm on workdays. On MNM, Tom De Cock is also the face of a yearly contest for highschools, "De Strafste School". With his colleague

Peter Van de Veire Peter Van de Veire (born 1 December 1971) is a well-known radio personality in Flanders. Early life Van de Veire grew up in the town of Waarschoot. After attaining a degree in communications management, he briefly sold vacuum cleaners door-t ...

he co-hosted "Marathonradio" - a project in which both DJs made back-to-back 24h live broadcasts for 17 days in a row, to support students during their final exams - in 2013 and 2014.

Television

Tom De Cock began his television career behind the scenes, mainly as a pre-show audience warm-up artist, for live shows such as Steracteur Sterartiest,

Peter Live Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, Eurosong and Zo is er maar één. When available, he is still active in that business. De Cock can be heard regularly as the voice of a variety of TV programmes. In 2015 he became the resident voice of the daily show "Iedereen Beroemd" ("Everybody Famous") on

Eén VRT 1 is a public Dutch-language TV station in Belgium, owned by the VRT, which also owns Ketnet, VRT Canvas and several radio stations. Although the channel is commercial-free, short sponsorship messages are broadcast in between some programm ...

. For the youth channel

OP12 OP12 (English: On 12) was the third channel of Belgium's VRT that featured evening broadcasts. The channel was launched on 14 May 2012 and closed on 31 December 2014. The channel's name was derived from the digital channel number that the sta ...

, De Cock made a series about how teenagers experienced local elections in 2012. The series ended in a live show on the public TV station

, in which he reflected on the influence local policy has on teenage citizens. Together with journalist

André Vermeulen André Leopold Adiel Vermeulen (born 25 October 1955 in Bruges) is a Belgian-Flemish journalist and television personality for VRT. Between 1991 and 2013, Vermeulen following Luc Appermont had been the Flemish commentator for the Eurovision So ...

, De Cock provided the offscreen commentary for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

in 2013 on

. In 2010, 2011 and 2012 he did the same for the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest The Junior Eurovision Song Contest, often known simply as Junior Eurovision, is an international children's Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 2003. Each part ...

Personal life

Tom De Cock's parents own a bakery in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. He was born in

Schoten Schoten () is a Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in Antwerp Province, Belgium. The municipality only comprises the town of Schoten proper. As of 1 January 2020 Schoten has a total population of 34,311. The total area is which gi ...

but grew up in

Rotselaar Rotselaar () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, Flemish-Brabant, near the convergence of the Demer and the Dijle. Since 1 January 1977 the municipality comprises the towns of ...

near

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

, where he studied Latin and Modern Languages at the Montfortcollege Rotselaar. After that he obtained a master's degree in Germanic Philology (Dutch and English) at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...

. On 6 August 2010 Tom De Cock married his husband Maarten. Today, they live in

. De Cock caused quite a commotion on 12 September 2011 when he declared that the prohibition of blood donation by homosexual men was "foolish and homophobic". Since 2014, De Cock is an ambassador for the LGBT youth organisation

Wel Jong Niet Hetero The Wel () is a river in Poland. It flows out of the Great Dąbrowa and Little Dąbrowa lakes near Dąbrówno, following a course of 118 km first that goes southwest and then north. It is a tributary of the Drwęca river, ending at Brati ...

. In 2014, De Cock and his husband adopted a baby girl named Jasmijn.

Bibliography

* De Cock, Tom (2001) ''De Openbaring, een profetie'', Houtekiet, Antwerpen, * De Cock, Tom (2016) ''En Toen Kwam Jij'', De Bezige Bij, * De Cock, Tom (2021) ''Lily'', Pelckmans, * De Cock, Tom (2022) ''Lily: Storm'', Pelckmans, * De Cock, Tom (2024) ''Lily: Staal'', Pelckmans,

References

External links

Tom De Cock official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Cock, Tom 1983 births Living people Belgian radio presenters Belgian television presenters Flemish writers Belgian gay writers People from Schoten