[1][2][3] Van der Perren became interested in figure skating after a traveling ice show came to his town to perform.

Although his parents wanted him to play soccer and he was teased by his classmates at school, he refused to give up his dream of being an elite figure skater.

At the 2002 World Junior Championships, he won the silver medal and also became the first skater to land a three jump combination, consisting of a 3S-3T-3L.

Van der Perren considered not going to the 2007 European Championships, but in the end he participated and finished on the podium, after edging Sergei Davydov by 0.07 for the bronze.

[4] In the 2007–08 season, van der Perren was assigned to the 2007 Skate Canada and the 2007 Trophée Eric Bompard as his Grand Prix events.

[7] In the 2009–10 season, van der Perren competed at the Finlandia Trophy where he took a hard fall on his injured hip but completed the competition.

[9] Although he had considered retirement following the 2009–10 season,[6] van der Perren decided to continue through the 2011 European Championships,[10] where he finished 4th.

[12][13] Van der Perren later announced via his website that the injury was not a fracture but a ligament strain, and that he hoped to be able to compete at the 2012 World Championships in Nice, France.

He finished 15th at the World Championships after placing 18th in the short program and 10th in the free skate, for which he received a standing ovation.

Van der Perren is a full-time coach in Belgium as well as running a skating show, Ice Fantillusion, with his wife.