De Mol (The Mole) is a Belgian reality game show that originally aired from 6 December 1998 to 19 March 2000 and again from 19 January to 16 March 2003 on TV1 with Michiel Devlieger as host. A revival has aired since 1 February 2016 on Play (known as Play4 until 2025 and known as VIER until 2021) with Gilles De Coster as host. The show won the famous Rose d'Or award in 2000. The format has been licensed in 40 countries from all around the world.

Players in The Mole must work together to complete various physical and mental challenges to build up a significant prize for the winner. One of them, however, is "the Mole", a double agent hired by the producers to sabotage the efforts of the group. The Mole must be careful to avoid drawing too much suspicion to themself. Using journals, players must track vast amounts of data about the person(s) they suspect of being the Mole, such as seating positions, clothing colours, minor discussion topics, and so on. The quiz at the end of each episode tests players' knowledge of the Mole, and determines by lowest score (or slowest time, in the event of a tie) who is eliminated from the game.

Format Each series of The Mole involves a group of contestants. During each episode, the contestants participate in a number of challenges, each assigned a monetary value. However, one of these contestants has been selected by production to be the Mole; it's their job to try to prevent the other players from winning challenges without revealing themself to others. The Mole is told what challenges to expect, but not always how to sabotage them; they must decide whether to intervene and how they do so.

To eliminate someone, all contestants take a quiz (which consists of 20 questions) at the end of every episode regarding the identity of the Mole and their involvement in the previous activities. The player who scores the lowest on this quiz, or was slowest to answer in case of a tie, is eliminated from the game. When there are only three players remaining, including the Mole, the winner of the game is the one that answers the most questions correctly on the final quiz. The final quiz is usually 30 questions.

While success in the challenges builds up potential winnings, it is also critical to stay in the game by scoring better than opponents on the quiz, usually by attempting to draw their suspicions of the Mole's identity toward oneself. Since the Mole must use subterfuge to misdirect attention from their attempts to derail the team, disingenuous attempts to emulate the Mole must be subtle, while still noticeable and suspicious.

Each season may also offer various advantages such as safety/exemption from elimination (vrijstelling) or tokens which increase a player's score on the quiz (pasvragen). Earning or claiming these usually come at the cost of money from the group pot.

Series overview SeriesPremiereFinaleHostThe MoleWinnerRunner-upAmount wonInternational destination16 December 199831 January 1999Michiel DevliegerMagda RalHugo De BieArmand "Mon" De RidderBEF 1,150,000France223 January 200019 March 2000Hugo DaemenMarianne DuponNiki De BoeckBEF 1,145,000Spain319 January 200315 March 2003Mark SimonsStijn VandaeleSandra Welvaert / Inge Boere€33,100Italy41 February 201628 March 2016Gilles De CosterGilles Van BouwelCathy van der HaHanne Vanhaesebrouck€30,790Argentina56 February 20173 April 2017Eline MichielsDavey Van RodeAnnelies Cooymans€27,250South Africa625 March 201820 May 2018Pieter DelanoyLloyd VermeulenBahador Sabouri€27,665Mexico710 March 201912 May 2019Elisabet HaesevoetsAxel PaillerBas Moeyaert€34,050Vietnam88 March 202026 April 2020Alina ChurikovaJolien DerckBart Lintermans€22,835Greece921 March 20219 May 2021Lennart DriesenAnnelotte De BrandtSven Uyttersprot€18,240Germany1020 March 20228 May 2022Philippe MinguetSven PedeYens Wittebrouck€26,390Canary Islands (Spain)Uma Vandemaele 1119 March 20237 May 2023Comfort AchuoLancelot De DeurwaerderToos Vandervelde€27,320Arizona (United States) 1224 March 202412 May 2024Senne van der ZweepBernard BalcaenMichaël Moens€24,160Sicily (Italy)1323 March 202511 May 2025Sarah LoosAlexy KilozoMichèle Vergote€27,910Thailand1429 March 202617 May 2026Wout CalluyJulie Den HondtMaxim Quidousse€20,430Portugal

Notes

Locations map

International versions In total, over 50 series/seasons of The Mole have been broadcast around the world, since its inception in 1998 in Belgium.

Legend: (3) Currently airing   (18) No longer airing  

Country Name Host(s) TV station Premiere Finale Australia The Mole Grant Bowler Seven 27 February 2000 28 September 2003 Tom Williams 25 August 2005 28 October 2005 Shura Taft 2 July 2013 16 October 2013 Bulgaria КъртицатаKartitsata Ivan Hristov TV7 26 March 2013 17 May 2014 Andrey Arnaudov Catalonia El Talp Pol Izquierdo TV3 2003 2003 Finland Myyrä Roope Salminen MTV3 1 January 2019 present FranceBelgium (Wallonia) Qui est la taupe ? Stéphane Rotenberg M6RTL-TVI (Belgium) 1 July 2015 5 August 2015 Germany Der Maulwurf – Die Abenteuershow Michael Stich ProSieben 7 July 2000 25 November 2001 Steven Gatjen The Mole – Wem kannst du trauen? The BossHoss Sat.1 6 May 2020 24 June 2020 Hungary A Tégla László Szalma TV2 28 March 2000 May 2000 Israel מי החפרפרתHa-Chafarperet Itai Anghel Channel 2 (Keshet) 13 February 2001 2001 Italy La Talpa Amanda Learonly first episodePaola Perego Rai 2 30 January 2004 2 April 2004 Paola Perego Italia 1 20 September 2005 22 November 2005 9 October 2008 27 November 2008 Diletta Leotta Canale 5 5 November 2024 25 November 2024 Netherlands Wie is de Mol? Angela Groothuizen AVRO (1999–2014)AVROTROS (2015–) (2024) 19 November 1999 present Karel van de Graaf Pieter Jan Hagens Art Rooijakkers Rik van de Westelaken Hila Noorzai Wie is de Mol? Junior Sipke Jan Bousema Nederland 3 17 May 2008 21 June 2008 Art Rooijakkers 9 March 2014 27 April 2014 New Zealand The Mole Mark Ferguson TV2 2000 2000 Norway Muldvarpen Lars Arentz-Hansen TVNorge 31 January 2000 9 December 2002 Ove Christian Owe Poland Agent Marcin Meller TVN 22 October 2000 22 December 2002 Agent – Gwiazdy Kinga Rusin 23 February 2016 2019 Portugal O Sabotador Paulo Nery RTP1 9 September 2001 4 November 2001 Spain El Traidor Luis Larrodera Cuatro 12 July 2006 8 September 2006 El Topo Daniel Domenjó Telecinco 25 June 2009 July 2009 Sweden Mullvaden Pontus Gårdinger Kanal 5 2000 2001 Hans Fahlén 2007 2007 Discovery+ (Sweden) 2 November 2021 8 December 2022 Ukraine КротKrot Konstantin Stognii ICTV 24 October 2014 26 December 2014 United Kingdom The Mole Glenn Hugill Channel 5 12 January 2001 9 December 2001 United States The Mole Anderson Cooper ABC 9 January 2001 18 February 2004 Ahmad Rashad Jon Kelley 2 June 2008 11 August 2008 Alex Wagner Netflix 7 October 2022 present Ari Shapiro

See also De Verraders

References

External links