It was no surprise at all: Margriet van der Linden announced the end of her NPO 1 talk show M in March 2022. But what exactly was behind that? “Too woke? No!”
Critics have been talking for years about the gap between the NPO on the one hand and the people on the other. Nowadays, Khalid & Sophie is often cited as an example of a program that does not understand what is going on in the country. And two years ago, Margriet van der Linden received tons of criticism. “Talk show M? Way too woke!”, critics shouted.
Tour de force
The ratings were really, really low, so it wasn’t a surprise at all when the show ended. Only a standard tune followed; something about new challenges. But why did that talk show really stop? After two years, Margriet explains why she quit M, namely in an extensive interview with VARA guide.
Margriet was devastated by all the criticism, she admits. “I took a year to become myself again. Such a talk show is one tour de force. It took four years of creating something new with enormous intensity, most of which were Covid months, without an audience.”
Start the show
There was no life in the program at all during those Covid months, according to Margriet. “And then I had to say again, ‘Start the show!’ Which show? I sometimes thought. You just sit there.”
According to her, the criticism was debilitating. “I mean, as a talk show host it’s often your turn. People look at you, criticize you, think something of you. You are a topic of conversation. You have to harden yourself for that.”
Thick skin
And that didn’t feel good at all for Margriet. “You know what it was, I personally have entered a phase in recent years where I was peeling away the thick skin I had grown in my life. That process clashed with sitting there at the talk show table, where I had to build up a thick skin against everything that comes your way.”
That clashed, she continues. “And I didn’t want that anymore. I had to prioritize my personal process and that made me want to quit M.”
Stop yourself
Margriet wanted to quit herself, she emphasizes. “Yes. I thought: I have to stop this. For myself, as a human being. People don’t know that. People thought (Van der Linden puts on a voice): well, she just had to stop because she was too woke! Hahaha. But that was not the case.”
How does she look back on that decision? “Very relieved.”