It was a drama last year: Johnny de Mol as presenter of De Oranjezomer. He is anything but a born talk show host and provided little chemistry at the table. Yet he will do it again…
Being the boss’s son has its advantages. While others probably end up on the reserve bench after a difficult TV adventure, Johnny de Mol simply gets a new chance as a talk show host. This summer, despite last year’s criticism, he will be allowed to do De Oranjezomer again for a few weeks.
Johnny responds
Last year Johnny certainly did not receive a standing ovation for his performance. Viewers and TV followers thought it all looked rather stiff and forced: conversations got off to a slow start, jokes felt rehearsed and the chemistry at the table just wouldn’t really develop. It often seemed like everyone was visibly working to keep things running.
And yet John de Mol’s son can now try again. How does he view the criticism? “A lot was happening in the news at the time: the war with Ukraine, the fall of the cabinet. So instead of a light-hearted entertainment program, I suddenly had to talk about nuclear warheads,” he says in The Telegraph.
Not sharp enough
This time, according to Johnny, things will go much better. “Because of everything that was going on, I wasn’t sharp enough. And it’s no excuse, because when you present something like that, you have to be there. But I do know that I am in the game much better now.”
He is referring to the stress he had due to the attempted manslaughter accusation of his ex Shima Kaes. “It’s indescribable what something like that does to you. We had been separated for four years and were still in touch every now and then.”
Depression
Those were horrible years, according to Johnny. “I have been close to burnout or depression. Or maybe even in it. Although I am not fond of labels. More to indicate that there were days when I preferred not to get out of bed. I did not stay in bed, although the temptation was very great.”
He never turned to alcohol, he concludes. “Although I liked a drink, and still do, I sought comfort in food. As a toddler, I secretly went crazy. Real binges. So instead of my wife smelling my breath to see if I had drunk too much, I had a blob of peanut butter stuck to my upper lip.”
