Duncan Laurence only wants to talk to reporters from RTL Boulevard in English, reports presenter Luuk Ikink. “I think it’s a bit weird. That is not neccesary?”
28-year-old Duncan Laurence from Spijkenisse feels like a giant star after winning the Eurovision Song Contest. He now thinks like this international that he doesn’t even want to talk in Dutch anymore. “We spoke to him recently and he only speaks English,” says RTL Boulevard star Luuk Ikink in the BLVD Podcast.
Only English
Luuk shows in a fragment how exactly that works. A Boulevard reporter accosts Duncan at the Edisons’ awards ceremony. “Duncan, how nice…”
Then Duncan immediately: “Yeah, shall we do it in English for Jordan to chat with?”
Luuk explains: “So this was at the Edisons. Very international by him. But that is, he says, because his friend is there and he speaks English, so he has to join the conversation. But he only wants to speak English with the Dutch press. Thats crazy.”
Slack excuse
Colleague Arno Kantelberg states that Duncan uses this purely as a lame excuse. “So it’s not because that friend is there. He has made a principled choice to speak English with the Dutch press. With or without a friend.”
And show connoisseur Rob Goossens: “I think he’s not comfortable enough to say ‘we’re still going to do it in English’ when his friend isn’t there. So he just makes sure his friend is always there. That he always has an excuse to say: ‘Yes, we’re going to do it in English’.”
Arno: “That friend is not participating in the conversation, is he?”
Luke: “No, that’s why. That’s what I love about it.”
Rob: “No, that friend is completely uninteresting.”
‘So weird’
Luuk seems to accuse Duncan of star allures. “I find that so strange indeed, because you would expect: well this is at the Edison, that is a Dutch pop prize, then you get a question, why would you want to make such an effort to explain all this in English? have it done? That is not necessarily necessary, is it? Thats crazy.”
Arno: “Yes, everyone should probably immediately think of Regilio Tuur.”
Luuk: “Yes, at a certain point he only wanted to speak English.”
Incidentally, Duncan has only spoken in English on his social media for years, even when he responds to Dutch fans.
Brand Duncan
Perhaps the singer wants to establish the ‘Duncan’ brand more internationally, says Luuk. “Duncan knows: everything I say is poured into a square block and put on Instagram. He thinks: that could be better international because then my Swedish and later Indian, or I don’t know what, target group can follow it all.”
Rob: “I agree, but then come out completely. Then don’t use your boyfriend as an excuse of: yes, I like it better socially. Then just say: we’re just going to do it in English now. Then it’s fine.”
Luke: “Yes, exactly.”
Arno: “Then I would actually like to request that the rest of this conversation also be done in English, because I actually want to have that market as well.”
Luuk: “Well, then we will continue. Arno Tilt mountain.”
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