Matthijs van Nieuwkerk has been out of action for quite some time now due to the scandal surrounding De Wereld Draait Door, but he has not become embittered like Linda de Mol. “He is really very positive.”
A media scandal can really break someone. You also saw this in Linda de Mol, who fell off her pedestal when she started lashing out at her critics in all sorts of ugly and vulgar columns. We haven’t seen Matthijs van Nieuwkerk do anything like that; he let it all happen to him and was actually very silent.
Vulnerable
Matthijs made his comeback yesterday as a presenter during a literary event in The Hague. “Yes, I was quite impressed when I saw it. I especially thought he looked really good. Much better than in that interview he gave to Boulevard a year ago. Then I really saw an old man who was very vulnerable,” says Tina Nijkamp.
The TV Authority continues Beau on Sunday: “And now I saw a kind of strength in him. I thought: he’s really looking forward to it again. I’m surprised by how good he actually looked again. When I saw him, I thought: do you know what to do, Matthijs? You just have to come back to television very carefully.”
Owners
That planned comeback at RTL, for which Matthijs posed next to bobos Sven Sauvé and Peter van der Vorst, was a mistake, according to Tina. “Not immediately with three programs and an RTL contract with the owners next to you, but simply with a one-off special.”
She continues: “Omroep MAX, for example, has existed for twenty years this year. Present that and come right back. I think that’s the way to go. Together with a TV interview. It’s been a really long time now, so I think it’s time for a comeback.”
Not bitter
Marc-Marie Huijbregts is good friends with Matthijs and agrees. “Yes, no, I also think he should go back. Your friend Angela de Jong is very much against all of this and thinks that someone for his life… I think that’s nonsense! I think it was nice enough.”
He continues: “What I like about Matthijs is that he has not become bitter or nasty at all. He is very positive, very up. When you speak to him, he has not become some kind of bitter, nasty man. Not at all.”
Positive
Matthijs is very positive, says Marc-Marie. “I think that’s very good of him, I think that’s very powerful, that it didn’t get to him. I definitely think he should come back. I also think he should just come back with one program.”
Tina: “I think he’s going to Omroep MAX. At least, that’s what I think Jan Slagter wants. 20 Years of MAX with Matthijs!”