Merel Westrik does not like watching Sven Kockelmann’s TV interviews. This makes her very uncomfortable and she prefers to zap away immediately. “He can be so intimidating.”
Sven Kockelmann’s interview technique revolves around asking questions, asking more questions and then putting the same question on the table again in a slightly different format until someone starts shifting in their seat. By deliberately creating uncomfortable situations, he forces guests to be honest, but some do not find him ‘likeable’ enough.
Merel zaps away
Merel Westrik is one of the people who doesn’t really like watching Sven. “Sven is a great interviewer, but I still zap away. He can be so intimidating. Then I feel the discomfort and I want to leave that conversation,” she says in the VARA guide.
“Sven forces you to give an answer, there is no escaping that. And at the same time it is of course also an art. It is very ambiguous, it gives me a kind of escape reaction, even though I do like it.”
Toolbox
Merel prefers to look at Jeroen Pauw. “His toolbox is very extensive.”
Her lover Pepijn Crone, with whom she gives the double interview to the VARA guide, has another favorite. The RTL newsreader says: “Interviewing is a complicated profession. I think Humberto is a great interviewer.”
Merel: “Oh really! I thought you were going to say Mariëlle Tweebeeke.”
Pepijn: “Mariëlle is Champions League, just like Sven Kockelmann.”
Suffering
Merel says she wants to see presenters suffer. “Yes, I like it when I see when the presenter is suffering a little. Presenting should be a little exciting, a little scary. I think that’s healthy. Who I really like is Daphne Lammers. Sometimes I also see her suffer a little.”
“When I see a colleague doing a very difficult interview, for example because the interviewee doesn’t answer at all, it can really give me a stomach ache. As a presenter, I know what it’s like when things don’t go well. I know what it’s like when you make a mistake or when you can’t figure it out. Television magnifies everything so much. That’s all suffering.”
