Albert Verlinde is on the cover of Weekend with the cry for help that he today ‘demolishes him’. Will the René van der Gijp substitute need a substitute himself? “It’s pretty tough.”
For years and for years, Albert Verlinde was the regular face of RTL Boulevard every night, but now the years are also going to count for him. He is now 64 years old and likes to enjoy the lazy life that he can afford himself. Yet this year he tacked to become the regular substitute for René van der Gijp on Wednesday evenings.
Oxygen
Whether Albert pulls this in the long term? That is just the question, because his cry for help that it is all heavy is achieving the front page of the Weekend.
What’s going on? Does Albert have to be oxygen? “I really like it. I am really having a good time. But when I suddenly had to come in on a Tuesday for Johan Derksen, I noticed that it is actually quite heavy. Because you want to be prepared.”
Million people
You want to get well prepared on such a large stage, says Albert. “You know what the impact of what is being said there is, because there are more than a million people watching. That is phenomenal, but also gives a certain responsibility.”
The musical millionaire had to come in because Johan’s woman was in the first aid. “The next day I was just there again, on my regular day. Those twice in a row was the border for me. It is pretty tough.”
In the deep
They don’t have to do something like that more often at VI, Albert warns. “That is difficult. Because I normally know that I am sitting there on Wednesday evening and then I will read the newspaper in the morning and write things down that I want to talk about. I am already starting to form my thoughts.”
“At that raid it was a bit like I was thrown into the deep. I like it if I can prepare myself, know what I want to talk about and what I can say about it.”