Olcay Gulsen has noticed that television makers have increasingly started to see her as a suitable talk show guest, but actually has very different ambitions for this medium. “Somehow I miss that,” she says.
45-year-old Olcay Gulsen has a strong opinion and does not hide it. At one point she was even a regular guest on Today Inside, where she was more or less expelled because she insulted fellow guest Wierd Duk. We did see her regularly at De Oranjezondag last summer.
‘I do miss it’
It just so happens that nowadays she is mainly on television as a talk show guest, but that is not her ambition, Olcay says in The Telegraph. It is also not the case that she wants to do less TV now. “No, I still really like TV.”
She continues: “I have made programs about domestic violence and stalking, but somehow in recent years I have increasingly become a table lady at talk shows. While I am very committed to combating poverty and domestic violence, so somewhere I miss that.”
VPRO corner
It seems that Olcay wants to end up more in the NPO or VPRO corner. “I would like to make more television about topics that are close to my heart. I have become ambassador for the United Nations with femicide and gender equality as spearheads. I would like to do more with that.”
Does she have the goodwill factor? She receives a lot of criticism on social media. “Of course I have a strong opinion, which not everyone wants. I think it is actually good when people with different opinions enter into discussions. That only makes the conversation more interesting.”
‘Because I am a woman’
Why does Olcay think so many people are bothered by her? “I notice that some viewers are annoyed by me. I am convinced that this is mainly because I am a woman.”
“Many – conservative – people are not at all interested in women who stick their necks out. But that is precisely why it is important that women make their voices heard.”