The makers of the ratings hit De Slimste Mens are already thinking about a future for the program without Philip Freriks (78) and Maarten van Rossem (79). “Of course there is no other way.”
There is little chance that Philip Freriks and Maarten van Rossem will be able to make the De Slimste Mens program together for years to come. Still, producer Skyhigh TV wants to continue with the game show without them. “Of course I don’t want to think about saying goodbye to those gentlemen. But yes, I mean: they are almost eighty,” says producer Marc Dik.
Still very vital
Marc tells in the podcast Content Wars that there is currently no acute problem. “They are still very vital, because I read all kinds of pieces, also in the newspaper about Philip Freriks being unchained this season. And that he is looser than ever. I also regularly speak to Maarten myself and let me say: the wear and tear is not over yet.”
For the time being, they will continue to be seen for a while, he expects. “Those men take good care of their health. You just don’t have it completely in your own hands, of course. But they are very fit men. I will sign for it when I later and the brains have and the vitality they have.”
To replace
Yet behind the scenes, people are thinking about a future of De Slimste Mens without the gentlemen. “Yes, of course those thoughts go through our heads and we are also thinking about that. Not in the sense that there are already contracts ready or anything with new people, but we have to think about that. Yes, of course there is no other way.”
TV maker Kirsten Jan van Nieuwenhuijzen, Philip’s cousin, thinks the program can continue without the men. “I think De Slimste Mens is now such an incredibly strong title and popular that if you were to do it with other presenters, it would still score. Even if you score half, it’s still a hit.”
80 years
Maarten tells in the program Never sleep again that he has to get used to the idea that he is almost 80. “Because you are slowly getting very old. I still perform in the theater and sometimes I ask if there are people from before 1943. Occasionally there is someone who is six years older than me or something, but that is becoming increasingly rare.”
Is he preoccupied with his age on a daily basis? “Not from day to day, but I do realize that what I’m doing now won’t be the same in ten years’ time. I realize that now. I work harder than when I was 35.”
