Wilfred Genee has declined the offer to drive a sponsored Porsche. That would make him feel like a proletarian. “A lot of people are having a hard time right now.”
Celebrities are only too happy to let themselves be celebrated. They are not at all ashamed of that: Marieke Elsinga posted a shameless tweet in 2018 in which she asked her followers for ‘tips’ for a new car. In other words: the Qmusic star was looking for a sponsorship deal. A few months later, she was driving around in a free Fiat 500X.
Wilfred not in Porsche
Wilfred Genee has already got it all right. It has sjans of a much more exclusive brand: Porsche. “I was recently offered a very nice car and I declined. That was a Porsche. That was an advertising deal and so on,” says the presenter in his program The Friday Move.
The wealthy presenter continues: “The funny thing is… I said: ‘I don’t think I’m a Porsche driver’, but I also have that feeling that you say, you know. Things are going badly in the Netherlands, people are having a hard time and then you drive up in a Porsche.”
‘Let it go!’
Story boss Guido den Aantrekker, who is a guest at Wilfred, then: “Yes, and the intention is that you also show it, of course.”
Fellow guest Gert Verhulst: “Let it go!”
Wilfred: “Let it go? Just do it?”
Gert: “Yes, of course.”
Wilfred: “And that feels like a liberation?”
Gert: “Yes, it felt like a liberation to me.”
Annoying
Gert, the Fleming who has amassed millions in the media, no longer feels that embarrassment. “For a long time I felt like I had to keep things hidden. When I just got my first expensive car, I always parked it around the corner from where I needed to be, because I was a little embarrassed that people would say, “Well, well, what a nice car.” I don’t have that anymore.”
Wilfred: “I still find it difficult.”