Khalid Kasem behaves very combatively when it comes to the threat of Eva Jinek. He thinks that his talk show Khalid & Sophie is of such a high quality that a TV exit is unthinkable.
It is incredibly painful for Khalid Kasem and Sophie Hilbrand, but according to the AD it is already a foregone conclusion: Eva Jinek ends up in their place. Although the talk show Khalid & Sophie is booked in until the summer of 2024, Eva would take over from September. According to the newspaper, 140 episodes of Jinek have been ordered.
Question of conscience
If that is true, then there will be no room left for Khalid & Sophie on the seven-hour slot of NPO 1. That could mean that they will start their very last year of TV on Monday. And the two are quite resentful about that uncertainty, as it turned out when they stood in front of the cameras of RTL Boulevard and Shownieuws last week.
Khalid now shows himself in the VI section In The Hallways suddenly very combative. “Then a question of conscience for you: how happy are you with the fact that Eva Jinek has returned to public broadcasting?” asks Wilfred Genee.
Politically correct
Initially, Khalid reacts politically correctly. “I already said that at De Oranjezomer: I think she belongs there, with the public broadcaster. I think she fits in there really well. We have no idea what she will make.”
Wilfred sternly: “Well, you know that. She’s going to do the eve.”
Khalid: “Well, that’s not official yet, is it?”
Wilfred: “Yes.”
Khalid: “Did you see the press release?”
Wilfred: “No, but you also know what is going on in the corridors.”
Combative
Then Khalid shows himself combative. “I will tell you: your program has also been dead and buried a number of times, there is nothing as opportunistic as the TV world. The moment you make a good program, and I believe that we make a good program and will make an even better program, then they cannot ignore us, dude.”
Well, that sounds confident. Khalid thinks their talk show is so good it can’t be taken off the air. “I’m not that scared about it.”
“You stay?”
Wilfred: “You say: if we’re that good, they can’t send us away?”
Khalid: “I don’t believe that at all.”
Wilfred: “You just stay?”
Khalid: “Yes, of course.”
Wilfred: “And then Eva gets a different time slot and you stay seated?”
Khalid: “You have no idea whether you alternate or whether it will be filled in a different way, but I really have the conviction that if we do what we can and want, nobody will get us from that channel.”