Johan Derksen thinks it is a shame that Gerard Joling is not given the opportunity by RTL to join Today Inside more often, but he understands this. “I agree.”
RTL 4 star Gerard Joling has been imposed strict rules by his boss Peter van der Vorst when it comes to his visits to Today Inside. Gerard is one of the big stars of RTL, but it is no secret that Peter finds the singer’s right-wing opinions a bit embarrassing and therefore literally muzzles him.
Conservative Geer
Peter single-handedly decided to throw the unaired program Joling and the Foreigners – the series was almost finished – into the trash. An enormous expense, but apparently Peter feared for Geer’s star status. After all, he has a very lucrative contract with RTL, so as a broadcaster you don’t feel like damaging your image.
Peter tries to prevent the same thing by restricting Gerard when it comes to his performances in Today Inside. Geer has written columns critical of Islam for years and his unvarnished opinions could easily arise again in the conservative atmosphere of Today Inside.
Never at the table
RTL will never allow Gerard to sit at the table at VI again; he is only allowed to perform there and then sit on the stool for a while, but only if he has a single to promote. And there are limits to that too.
What does VI mustache Johan Derksen think about that? “I completely agree with that. If I were the boss of RTL, I would also think the same way,” he says in the podcast Greetings from Grolloo.
Mileage allowance
Johan would also not like it if he himself were to appear in RTL programs. “John de Mol transfers a decent mileage allowance to me every month. Then it is of course not nice to join the competition for free because it strokes your ego.”
He concludes: “Gerard Joling suits us very well as a guest, but RTL has said: ‘We will pay you a fortune and then you will go to the competition’, so we won’t do that. He may come and promote the song, but not join the discussion at the table and that sounds a bit strange, but I don’t think that’s illogical.”