Shortly after the termination of RTL Tonight, Albert Verlinde starts lashing out at his former colleagues from that program. This is also how Lale Gül gets beaten up. “She takes herself too seriously.”
It has only just disappeared from the air when Albert Verlinde starts lashing out at his former colleagues from RTL Tonight, where he never felt at home. He found it difficult, especially in the early days of the program, to have to absorb all the criticism, while he did not feel any chemistry with his colleagues at the desk.
Penny
Albert was bothered, he honestly admits, but, as he himself concludes The Friday Move: “I also notice that if you say that you don’t care about the ratings, everyone says: ‘What arrogance this is’, and if you say that you care about it, then they say: ‘What an affectation. As if there is nothing else important in the world.’”
Did he switch for the money? “No, no. Of course, if you see a penny lying around, you pick it up. Of course it was also nice that money was involved, but the first impulse was: I enjoy doing it.”
Different sound
Albert also wanted to educate the RTL club a bit. “You also want to show the different sound. That was also the reason why Peter van der Vorst said: ‘I would like you to join us’, because they wanted the different sound. RTL is generally very canal belt. That’s not me. I do live in Amsterdam, but I remain the healthy provincial.”
But, he says: “The moment you are the only voice in the whole, you almost start to shout because you want to have a discussion. In general, you saw that the people at the table were not looking forward to that.”
Sneak at Lale
Only Saskia Belleman and Michiel Vos were open to it. “Saskia is of course world class. But you also saw that some people thought: I’m here for my speech, do you mind if I continue for a while?”
He is less enthusiastic about Lale Gül. “One comes across a little better than the other. Lale is of course quite complicated, I have to be honest. She also takes herself so seriously. Josine also has that a bit. I would like to pass that on to the new generation: take yourself a little less seriously. I think that is really lesson number one.”
‘Don’t understand’
Lale is often angry with her critics. “I really don’t understand it. Of course you have to take the program seriously and keep an eye on the news, but I always say: the moment you walk into the studio you have to leave it all behind, because you remember what is fun and important, but otherwise just sit back and let it happen.”
Albert also had difficulty with the constantly changing commentators. “Sometimes I really thought in the morning: who is sitting here tonight? You also want to build something together.”
‘Heard nothing’
Finally, two media comments: what does Albert think of the fact that Guido den Aantrekker has more or less called him a ‘heroin whore’? “Yes, that is the man who works at DPG and at the same time fills his pockets at Talpa, isn’t he?”
And Johan Derksen who shouted that he should stay away after his breaking news-nonsense? He no longer responded to an email from Albert. “No, but that’s not necessary, is it? I just said: ‘That’s how it is.’ That man is so busy, he has to do 38 shows a week. I understand.”
