BNNVARA star Paul de Leeuw acknowledges that he has sometimes gone too far behind the scenes of TV programs. “Yes, you cross the border sometimes, yes. You have to be corrected for that.”
A pretty unfortunate timing for Paul de Leeuw: he indicated yesterday in the pre-recorded program Farm Van Dorst that he too has sometimes crossed the border on the studio floor. And that just after the riot broke out about the misconduct of his BNNVARA colleague Matthijs van Nieuwkerk. “Yes, you cross the border sometimes, yes.”
Annoying and nasty
At one point, presenter Raven van Dorst asks Paul if he ever gets angry on the studio floor. He responds: “As you get older it’s also much less, but there will undoubtedly be people who see this say: ‘He was so annoying and nasty.’ But yes… Yes, I can be nasty. Of course, yes. That is much less now. Much less.”
He continues: “You strive for the perfect or the ultimate and then you take everyone along in your enthusiasm. Before I went on I was always a little teasing with everyone. Not to, but just to get myself sharp. I was the annoying little boy then. The moment I entered the stage, I was that nice presenter.”
‘That is no longer possible’
Fellow guest Simone Weimans, known from the NOS Journaal, sternly: “But yes, that is really no longer possible. At least, that very annoying one. You are simply called to account and you are held accountable.”
Paul defensively: “But it was just more bland. Just bland. To sharpen you.”
Raven: “Could that be intimidating to people, do you think?”
Paul: “I think I can come across as intimidating anyway, because of course I am a lot and talk a lot and always speak the highest word. And be dominant.”
Gone too far
Raven: “Has your sewing ever gone too far?”
Paul: “Yes.”
Raven: “Of course it is quite a hot topic now. Or at least, hot topic, there is quite a broom going through Hilversum with all kinds of toxic situations that are raised.”
Simone: “It hurts, but I think it is important and good to just that everyone is reasonably equal again and interacting in a normal way again. The stories you sometimes hear: people can go too far that it is no longer okay.”
“Do you recognize that?”
Raven: “How come people feel like they can go far?”
Simone: “I think if you don’t get corrected and you’re a star and you just keep going and you think anything is possible… If no one says ‘just act normal’, then it just becomes your existence. Then you just create a kind of monster and then it crosses the border.”
Paul starts to look more and more uncomfortable. Raven: “Do you recognize that?”
toxic way
Paul: “Yes, you cross the border sometimes, yes. You really need to be corrected for that. I do think that the equality can sometimes also cause it to become flat. Sometimes you also need a bit of temperament to get it sharp again.
Simone: “But in the end it has to be done with respect, you know. There is no need to denigrate people. It’s not necessary. You can also be very perfectionist and achieve a great goal without it going in such a toxic way.”
