André van Duin speaks of the ‘most beautiful gift he could give himself’. Last weekend, the folk comedian turned 75 years old and now he announces that he has found a new love. He lives in Spain and goes by the name Fernando. But he is ‘just a Brabanter’, as Van Duin tells in De Telegraaf.
Van Duin went through a very difficult period, in which he lost his great love Martin – he was seriously ill – and cancer was also discovered in himself. The artist emphasizes in the newspaper that the loss of Martin after two years is ‘still immense’, but that Martin also wanted him to be happy again.
And that is Van Duin again. With 61-year-old Fernando. He was born in Sint Willebrord and has always been a dancer. The artist also knows him from that, through ‘Op loose grooves’, ‘Op full speed’ and similar programs.
Fernando was the dancer’s stage name, but he also started using that name in everyday life. He was born as Conny van Es and is known as the inventor of the Vogeltjesdans.
The folk comedian realizes that there will undoubtedly be people who think: that is soon after Martin’s death. But things like that happen, he emphasizes.
But Martin remains his great love. According to Van Duin, that will never change ‘and Fernando knows that too’. According to the folk comedian, his new flame can also live with that.
He emphasizes that the mourning has not yet been fully processed, but that he is also not someone who can be alone for very long. He thinks it helps that he and Fernando have known each other for more than forty years. Even from the time when he had a long relationship with the already deceased Wim van der Pluym. Fernando was already a family friend then. He even knew Van Duin’s parents.
The two got back in touch after Fernando André sent a message after the death of Martin and artist Corry van Gorp. He came to Amsterdam at André’s request, and he liked it so much that they made more frequent appointments. And André noticed that he was sorry if Fernando went back to Spain afterwards.
Van Duin emphasizes that Fernando is not the new Martin, but he feels completely happy that this can happen to him at this age. He’s “just nervous about it.” He speaks of ‘the most beautiful gift he can give himself and wants to ‘enjoy it for as many years as possible after being given’.
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