It seems that Hélène Hendriks has unfairly been blamed for the Jack van Gelder scandal. His misconduct turned out to be worse than people knew. “This is because of Talpa.”
Hélène Hendriks has had a bad time in terms of publicity. Not only because of the fierce criticism of her continuous flaunting in Moroccan dresses, but also because she was held responsible for the exit of Jack van Gelder from her Oranje talk show. From a publicity perspective, his exit was dramatic.
Chuckling Hélène
There was an extreme amount of uncertainty for the general public: Jack, the big star of SBS 6’s Oranje talk show in recent years, was suddenly no longer present during the last winter series. “On holiday!”, Hélène shouted, not realizing at the time that that statement would later really turn against her.
It turned out that Jack was not on holiday. It turned out that there was some rumbling going on behind the scenes, but Hélène unwisely tried to cover it up. She decided to lie, spin and snicker about it on television. Reporter Aran Bade then reprimanded her: if you don’t want Jack anymore, just say so, he snapped at her.
‘Is because of Talpa’
It was then Johan Derksen who to the rescue came, as he revealed that Talpa was behind Jack’s exit because a shouting match had taken place behind the scenes. Jack initially denied it, which apparently made Hélène reluctant to tell the truth: she indicated that she wanted more space for Rutger Castricum.
Jack’s misconduct was eventually confirmed, a conversation with his victim followed, but people still wondered: was he really put aside because of one shouting match or does Hélène just not want him anymore? Even Jack’s Jewish background was included. Last week there was official confirmation: Jack will definitely not be returning.
Four conversations
Only yesterday evening, more than a month (!) after the start of the Jack riot, did the whole story come out: according to Wilfred Genee, Jack misbehaved several times behind the scenes and no fewer than four (!) conversations were held about this. In other words: it seems that Hélène’s fuss and silence was mainly concerned with sparing Jack.
The big question is: why didn’t Talpa and Jack rescue the star presenter from that dire PR situation? If Talpa or Jack themselves had told the truth, Hélène would have been spared a lot. After all, everyone understands that in 2026 you cannot have someone walking around on the studio floor constantly insulting young editors. It wasn’t just once.
Much too late
TV authority Tina Nijkamp slaps Talpa on the fingers. “I actually think that the Talpa program management reacted too late, which has turned this into a very festering whole. If Jack shouted at someone, then as program director you immediately sit down with that person and the person involved and then you think something about it.”
She continues Today Inside: “Then you say: ‘We are not going any further or we are going any further’, whateverbut then you make a statement out of it. This became a riot because it festered for a very long time. Hélène said: ‘Yes, he is on holiday’, then not on holiday. That became quite a hassle, which made everyone think that Hélène could do something about this.”
‘Nothing to say’
That is ‘of course not the case’, says Tina. “Because a presenter doesn’t actually have much to say in a program. That is the editor-in-chief. Only this program is different,” she says, pointing to VI.
Wilfred Genee laughing: “Something. Hahaha.”
Tina: “Somewhat, but normally the editor-in-chief is the boss. I don’t think it’s entirely fair to Hélène either. I think the Talpa program management should have intervened earlier and let it simmer on for too long.”
Statement
Johan Derksen states that Hélène even tried to keep Jack on board despite everything. “However, they thought it was so important at Talpa that they did not consider Hélène’s opinion relevant, because Hélène would have liked to keep him there.”
Tina concludes: “Apparently it has escalated to the point where it is now this situation. I think that as program management you should make a statement immediately. Now it is getting bigger and bigger, we are now talking about it again and I don’t think we should have had to.”
