Henry van Loon never wants to participate in The Roast again after the debacle with Hans Klok. They don’t have to call him anymore. “It was the last time I participated,” he says resolutely.
Comedy Central apparently failed to get a controversial celebrity to be roasted in the annual TV show The Roast last year. Hans Klok was chosen, which is of course very disappointing. The illusionist is a bit vanilla: you can’t really say much bad about it. A total mismatch with The Roast.
Failure
It was therefore not possible to make the viewers curious: in December only 236,000 people tuned in to Hans Klok’s roast. A lot less than the previous editions with Gordon (464 thousand viewers), Giel Beelen (603 thousand), Johnny de Mol (514 thousand) and Ali B (427 thousand).
The people who did watch saw an extremely meager show. “Comedy Central really needs to think hard about The Roast. Henry van Loon was – as a host – great again. Johan Goossens also top notch. But besides that, it’s just too disappointing,” said AD media journalist Marcus den Blanken.
Henry refuses
Henry agrees. He refuses to ever participate again. “Well, it was the last time I participated,” he says in the Playboy†
Why was the edition with Hans Klok so bad? “The Roast is pre-eminently the kind of gala that comes into its own in the evening, when everyone has had a glass of wine. It should be a kind of dinner show, with a red carpet and a cozy atmosphere. Then it works, but this edition was already recorded at 12 noon.”
Awkward
Very stupid of Comedy Central, Henry thinks. “Everyone was pretending it was a gala night, with a glass of champagne in front of them, which made it a little awkward.”
Why did he do it anyway? “I could really use the money, after not touring for a long time. And I think it’s a nice format in itself.”
Motive
So is money such a big motivator for Henry? “I’d be lying if I don’t care, because it does. But I’d rather be in a small room that I’m sure works than on a big stage where everything beats to death.”
Finally, what does Henry do with all that TV money? “I often buy things for my bike: fog lights, seat, windshield.”