Suzan & Freek immediately pull the emergency brake now that he turns out to be incurably ill. Not only are their three Ziggo Dome concerts canceled this weekend, The Voice is canceled. “Very time.”
Due to the suddenly discovered lung cancer from Freek Rikkerink (32), there is an abrupt end to the hugely successful Duo Suzan & Freek. Last week they made three concerts in the Ziggo Dome and would be there again three times next weekend, after which the Antwerp equivalent would follow next week: the Sportpaleis.
Not in voice
It is not all going on: Suzan and Freek put all their work. And of course they will not appear in the new season of The Voice of Holland, which – for the time being – will start in January 2026. They would play the role of Duocoach, between colleagues Ilse DeLange, Willie Wartaal and Dinand Woesthoff.
Suzan and Freek had already started the preparations carefully, they told last week Radio 538. “We have already had some meetings with people and lunch once with everyone,” said Freek.
In the fall
The recordings of The Voice have not yet started. “The recordings are in the fall. It is exciting, yes. It is also a thing that you really sit in that chair. I have always seen it on TV,” says Suzan.
Freek was also enthusiastic about it. “We have had many conversations with RTL and ITV anyway about what has changed and how it all works. We also had to do audition. There was an empty shed in Hilversum and we had to go through a back door.”
Office chairs
That practicing went on a office chair, Suzan said laughing. “There were those desk chairs that you had to sit on as if it were the voice seats. Then you have to turn like a normal office chair.”
Freek: “They had a toy button that you could press.”
Suzan: “Yes, they went filming and wanted to see a bit what the vibe is like when you do it together.”
Coaching lunch
A lunch would take place soon with the other coaches, Freek said. “We’re going to do that. I think agendas were drawn, but we are now focused alone on the Ziggo. We said,” After the Ziggo we can. “
The Ziggo concerts were very important to them. She: “In the end it is just a kind of celebration. A celebration of recent years that you are working hard on something and you just get to celebrate it.”
What does RTL say?
What does RTL say about the terrible news? Bee RTL Boulevard: “We are very shocked for the sad news that has been shared today by Freek and Suzan. Our thoughts are at Freek, Suzan and everyone around them in this intense time.”
Reporter Aran Bade: “Of course it is completely upside down now, but also goes all the way to the background, I can imagine, if something like that happens.”
Fragment
Suzan & Freek last week on Radio 538: