Most-Watched Dutch Shows Right Now: Oct 2026 Guide

By Sidra Salman · October 27, 2026

If you only had one week to understand what the Netherlands is watching right now, this is the week to look at. A brand-new Dutch dating experiment sits at the top of the streaming charts, a Dutch dinner-club thriller is holding a global top-10 spot, and the usual autumn reality heavyweights are still pulling the living room together. Here is what is actually being watched, why it is working, and what to try next if you are new to Dutch television.

One note on the numbers before we start. Streaming charts and broadcast ratings measure different things. A Netflix top-10 ranking shows what subscribers in the Netherlands streamed most in a given week. Broadcast ratings show who tuned in live. I have kept those two worlds separate below, because mixing them is how a show that nobody watched live ends up looking like a national hit.

The streaming picture: Love Is Blind leads, The Perfect Lie holds

For the week of October 12 to 18, 2026, the most-watched title across all streaming platforms in the Netherlands was Love Is Blind: Netherlands, according to cross-platform rankings. On Netflix Netherlands specifically, that same week placed Love Is Blind: Netherlands second, behind the limited series Below, with The Diplomat season 4 third and the Dutch crime drama The Perfect Lie fifth.

Love Is Blind: Netherlands is not a small launch. Thirty singles enter the pods, date without seeing each other, and can get engaged before they ever meet face to face. The season runs to ten episodes, hosted by Nicolette van Dam and Bas Smit, and rolled out in batches: five episodes on September 30, three more on October 7, episode nine on October 14, with a reunion still to be dated. That staggered release matters. It keeps the show in conversation for a full month instead of one weekend, which is exactly why it is still topping charts in week three.

Why does this format work so well in a Dutch version? The pods remove the fastest judgment in dating, looks, and force the conversation to carry the first episodes. Viewers argue about voices, choices, and red flags they heard rather than saw. The format also travels well because the question at its heart is simple: does a bond formed with your eyes shut survive the real world? The Dutch season answers that question with local voices, local humor, and local social codes, which is why it feels different from the American or British versions even when the structure is identical.

The Perfect Lie: a Dutch thriller with global legs

The Perfect Lie, known in Dutch as De Eetclub, is the other Dutch title holding its ground. Based on Saskia Noort's bestselling novel, it follows Karen, played by Loes Haverkort, who moves with her husband and daughter to Bergen in North Holland and is invited into a dinner club of well-off couples. Then one of the villas burns down, Evert, played by Edwin Jonker, dies in the fire, and Karen begins to suspect the fire was not an accident.

The series has spent four consecutive weeks in Netflix's global top 10 for non-English-language shows, according to interviews with its screenwriter. That is a strong result for a Dutch-language drama, and it tells you something about what travels: a closed circle, a secret everyone is protecting, and an outsider who has to learn the rules of the group before she can ask the right questions. Karen is not a detective. She is a guest, and her access to the other couples is only as deep as their hospitality allows. That outsider position is what keeps viewers watching, because the audience learns the group's secrets at the same pace she does.

If you like The Perfect Lie, the viewing order that makes sense is simple. Watch the seven episodes in order, without skipping, because the dinner-club structure means each episode adds a layer to the same group rather than starting a new case. And if you want the book afterward, Noort's novel gives you the same story in a different register, with more interior detail than a screen adaptation can carry.

The broadcast picture: the shows that still gather a room

Streaming is only half the Dutch television story. On broadcast, the autumn season belongs to long-running formats that Dutch viewers return to year after year. Boer zoekt vrouw, the farmer-dating show that has run since 2004 on NPO 1, typically anchors the autumn schedule, with a short introductory round followed by the full season months later. Its staying power comes from a simple trick: the farmers are introduced, viewers write letters, and by the time the season proper starts, the audience already has favorites.

Alongside it, the usual Dutch appointment viewing includes De slimste mens, the celebrity quiz that tests knowledge and wit, Wie is de Mol?, the game of deception and strategy that still generates a season of theories, and Married at First Sight Netherlands, which pairs strangers and follows them through the early weeks of marriage. These are not new shows. They are rituals, and in the Netherlands, rituals rate.

That mix also explains the 2026 Televizier-Ring picture. The main Dutch television award is decided by the viewing public, not a jury, so its winners reflect popular taste. The 2026 winner, De Bondgenoten, is a reality game series, and the final three ranged from reality to a consumer programme to a regional drama set in Twente. For anyone new to the country, that shortlist is a practical starting point: it shows what Dutch viewers actually talk about at work the next day.

What to watch next, by mood

If you want a conversation starter: Love Is Blind: Netherlands. You will have opinions by episode two, and so will everyone else. Start with the first five episodes, which cover the pods, then decide whether you want the real-world stretch.

If you want a thriller you can finish in a week: The Perfect Lie. Seven episodes, one group, one fire, and a question that widens with every dinner. Watch it when you can give it full attention, because the details matter.

If you want comfort viewing with Dutch flavor: Boer zoekt vrouw. It is gentle, funny, and deeply Dutch in its rhythms: long silences, practical people, and romance that moves at farm pace, not television pace.

If you want a game you can play along with: Wie is de Mol? or De slimste mens. Both reward attention and both generate the kind of next-day debate that makes a show feel bigger than its ratings.

If you want prestige drama: The Diplomat season 4 and East of Eden, both in the Netflix Netherlands top 10 this week, offer the international counterweight to the Dutch titles above. They are not Dutch shows, but they are what Dutch viewers are choosing alongside them, which tells you how the national diet actually works: local reality and thriller, plus global drama.

Why this week matters beyond the charts

There is a pattern in this week's charts worth naming. Dutch viewers are not choosing between local and global. They are choosing both, in the same week, often in the same evening. A Dutch dating experiment leads the cross-platform chart, a Dutch thriller holds a global top-10 spot, and American and British prestige drama fills the rest of the Netflix top 10. That mix is the Dutch viewing habit in miniature: curious about the world, loyal to local voices, and happy to argue about both.

It also shows how release strategy shapes what we call "most-watched." A show released all at once burns bright and fades. A show released in batches, like Love Is Blind: Netherlands, stays in the conversation for weeks, because each batch gives viewers a new reason to return and a new cliffhanger to discuss. If you are tracking Dutch television, watch the release pattern as closely as the ranking. It often explains the ranking.

For more on the week's viral moments, see our roundup of viral Dutch moments this week, and for the quieter side of fame, our Dutch stars giving back highlights show what celebrities do when the cameras are not the point. You can browse everything new on our Latest Articles page.

The bottom line

Right now, the Netherlands is watching a Dutch dating experiment, a Dutch dinner-club thriller, and a handful of global dramas, all at once. If you watch only one thing this week, make it Love Is Blind: Netherlands for the conversation, or The Perfect Lie for the story. Either way, you will understand a little more about what Dutch viewers are talking about, and why they keep coming back to local voices even when the global catalog is only a click away.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most-watched show in the Netherlands right now?

For the week of October 12 to 18, 2026, Love Is Blind: Netherlands was the most-watched title across all streaming platforms in the Netherlands, and second on Netflix Netherlands specifically, behind Below. Rankings change weekly, so treat this as a snapshot of that week, not a permanent crown.

Where can I watch Love Is Blind: Netherlands?

On Netflix, where the first season is streaming. The season has ten episodes, released in batches from September 30, 2026, with a reunion episode still to be announced.

What is The Perfect Lie about?

It is a Dutch thriller based on Saskia Noort's novel De Eetclub. A newcomer joins a dinner club in Bergen, a villa burns down, a member of the group dies, and she begins to suspect the fire was not an accident. Every member of the circle is hiding something, and the seven episodes widen that question rather than answering it quickly.

Are Dutch broadcast shows still popular alongside streaming?

Yes. Long-running formats like Boer zoekt vrouw, De slimste mens, and Wie is de Mol? still anchor broadcast schedules and generate national conversation, even as streaming titles top weekly charts. Dutch viewing is a mix of both worlds, not a replacement of one by the other.

About the Author

Sidra Salman is the founder of Dutch Stars Daily, where she writes practical, research-backed guides on Dutch entertainment. Every guide is tested and written in plain English for a US audience.