Money or credibility? Matthijs van Nieuwkerk’s dilemma was life-threatening during his conversations with Talpa. He thought SBS 6 was too raw. “But raw defended you!”
It seems like a tactical move that Matthijs van Nieuwkerk did not wait for the report on misconduct at the public broadcaster before signing with RTL. Now that the NPO is still keeping the door closed to him, there is no exaggerated word about his choosing the commercial sector. And that was his fear for years: the Jack Spijkerman effect.
No to John
Matthijs has chosen the golden mean: his transfer to RTL is accepted, but a switch to SBS 6 would probably be harmful to his image. That you become colleagues of the VI trio with their dick films is one thing, but as an A-star you really don’t want to be in the same schedule as Peter Gillis.
Yet it is obvious that John de Mol and his Talpa have made a better offer: after all, Matthijs delivers A-quality and could give SBS 6 a significant boost. And then you have the big dilemma that always precedes a transfer to Talpa: money or credibility? He chose the latter.
‘Far too raw’
Talpa boss Paul Römer states that Matthijs ultimately found their company ‘too raw’. “We could have had Matthijs, there were discussions, but he rejected us. Still painful, don’t you think?” Wilfred Genee notes Today Inside.
Hélène Hendriks: “I just think he fits RTL better.”
Johan Derksen: “I don’t think money was the reason. (…) I can imagine that he does not want to be part of these types of programs.”
“Defended you!”
Johan will come back to that a little later. “I would like to come back to the fact that Matthijs thought our program and Talpa were too raw, right? Then I think: Matthijs can say that, but during the period when he was lying on the ground and with his back against the wall, ‘raw’ always defended him. No one at RTL has lifted a leg for him.”
Wilfred: “I think Paul Römer said that, but he had the idea that he didn’t quite feel it here. The feeling that he had the affinity. But we stood up for him, you mean? Thank you actually!”
Nothing mandatory
Johan is a bit disappointed in Matthijs. He abandons his raw rescuers for a softer landing. “Well, he’s not obliged to do anything, but RTL has never lifted a finger to him, has it? They have always kept very quiet and did not express opinions.”
Yet Matthijs prefers RTL’s decorum to Talpa’s euros. What Johan thinks of RTL? “Actually a very cowardly broadcaster.”