Her cousin was Arnie (who died in 1996), whom her parents looked after while Jef's brother Robert and pregnant wife Laura were living in New York City.

Dian arrived in Meerdijk when Jef and Karin were close to splitting up; she wanted to move in with her new boyfriend Tim Waterman, but she had forgotten to inform the latter.

Soon afterwards she began a relationship with Mark de Moor, an attractive swimmer she met on a spa weekend with her feminist aunt Sandra.

During this period Karin was dating building-constructor Jan-Henk Gerritse; the affair lasted long enough to make her realise that her marriage had become a joke.

Dian was broken-hearted by Karin's sudden departure, and with Jef failing to comfort her she made a shortlived attempt to run away with Mark.

His first mission was getting rid of "public enemy no.1" Kees Moree, who gave his superiors ten years' worth of headaches.

Dian answered the door and was picked as an easy target; she could not walk down the street or rest at home without Moree bullying her, and a secret phone-number was no solution either.

A meeting with Arthur's parents, Tracy and Frenk Peters, was scheduled, but Jef spoiled it all by turning up drunk because he was now officially divorced.

Dian made the bad-to-worse trip by dating Frits Van Houten, one of Meerdijk's most influential businessmen, and becoming his wife.

Van Houten was murdered soon afterwards by being electrocuted in his bath-tub; his jealous secretary Hannie, whom he'd made pregnant during their shortlived affair, was falsely imprisoned as the culprit.

She held Ludo responsible and hooked up with Bowien Galema and new love interest Huib Van Groeningen for revenge.

Dian was concerned that Jack wanted Frits' possessions and wasted no time in returning to Meerdijk where she had a one-night stand with Dennis Tuinman, her own cousin whom Arnie was swapped for at birth.

Soon, she set eyes on police inspector Mohammed Aydin who was called in to solve Ludo Sanders' murder (who actually survived).

The bartender Rik De Jong was blamed and arrested by the new police inspector, Bob Lanschot, who appeared to be the stalker himself.

Ludo pursued legal actions because Dian's marriage to Donald Van Der Zee was illegal and had a relative flown in from Australia to testify.