Olcay Gulsen submits to the screaming executioners of ‘Special Forces VIPS’ on RTL4, but they are not the problem. The desert heat is also horrible, but her greatest fear lies in something ordinary: water. “They wanted to see panic. That worked.”
Presenter and entrepreneur Olcay Gulsen (43) is not afraid of exposing herself on national television. She showed this, among other things, in the reality series with radio deejay Ruud de Wild, her now ex-lover, and in an impressive program about domestic violence.
In Special Forces VIPS on display on RTL4 since Sunday, we see that she does have another major phobia, which makes her participation in this bizarre torture show a major challenge. She is afraid of one of the most normal things on earth: water. “I’ve had problems with it all my life and it doesn’t make sense.”
It’s now or never, thought Olcay Gulsen when she received a call from the makers of Special Forces VIPS . They approached the presenter once before. Then she had to pass up the application because of the recording of another program.
That sounds like a good excuse, but it certainly wasn’t. “I love pushing my boundaries. At the moment I am super fit and that’s why I thought: let’s go for it.”
As she looks back on her grueling adventure, it is already ‘ business as usual . She took the train to Paris at six o’clock in the morning – well dressed despite the early hour – to attend a fashion show at Fashion Week.
How differently the entrepreneur felt when she was dropped in an armored truck in the Moroccan Sahara a few months ago, together with eleven other adventurous well-known Dutch people. There began the ultimate test, which must determine whether they have the qualities of a full member of the special forces .
Scream immediately
Gulsen was not really prepared for this challenge. She had to work from the first minute. “I was initially hit in the face by the temperature. Before we left, they recommended training at home with a backpack filled to 25 kilos. Of course I wouldn’t have done that. The program is as horrible to watch as it is to participate in it.”
The celebrities, including rapper Bizzey and model Kim Feenstra, were pushed to the limit by staff members Erik Wegewijs, Bas Kremer, Mitchell Ossebaar and Nikki Koppe Draaijer.
“They started shouting at us from the first minutes,” says Gulsen. “If you did something wrong they said: ‘Can you don’t have anything at all in your life?’ Then you think for a moment: why do you say this ? They immediately take you out of your comfort zone.”
Huge fear of water
The latter certainly applied to Gulsen. On the first day she was immediately confronted with her greatest fear, when she had to swim on her back through a low container of water to move a key.
“I have had a huge fear of water since I was young. That’s why I don’t have swimming diplomas. I even shower in such a way that the water doesn’t come over my head.”
She suspects the makers of deliberately stopping this assignment at the start of the training. “Of course they wanted to see me panicking. That worked”
Gulsen has no longer been associated with a permanent channel since her departure from SBS6 two years ago. “I prefer to be an entrepreneur rather than a full-time presenter.”
The owner of her own beauty brand regularly sat as a table lady in the talk show last year Khalid & Sophie . “I have been asked for the new season. I have to think about that.”
According to her, this has nothing to do with the latest news about Khalid Kasem, who has temporarily resigned from his work as a presenter after suspicions of bribing an official. “To be honest, that message passed me by a bit. I don’t understand the whole context of that story.”
After five years of Ruud
Gulsen no longer wants to talk about her recent breakup with radio deejay Ruud de Wild. According to her, that is a closed chapter.
She does say: “I wake up every day with a smile. I feel cheerful. That’s not because Ruud is no longer here. I like the freedom, for example not being called anymore asking: ‘What are we having for dinner?’”
Yet, after her steady relationship of five years, she recently cautiously explored the market again. “I had a date but afterwards I thought damn, no.”
The lesson she learned from this? “You should never plan a dinner right away, but have a drink first. I am now in my rest and space phase, and I am enjoying that for the time being.”
The first episode of Special Forces VIPS can be seen on Sunday evening at 10.20 pm on RTL4. The first two episodes can be seen via Videoland from Sunday.