Peter van der Vorst slams Eva Jinek by saying so resolutely and emphatically that there is no need for a successor at all. “The relationship has soured.”
It seems that the terribly expensive transfer of Eva Jinek to RTL 4 never really lived up to expectations. She did get the channel’s late evening on track, but that is more thanks to producer Ewart van der Horst, who moved to the commercial channel in her wake.
Zero on appeal
Eva’s own contribution is more limited. Her viewing figures were actually very disappointing and were never really better than those of the presenters with whom they rotated. Her ambition level also collapsed like a house of cards: in the beginning she shouted that she was not coming to RTL 4 to work shifts, but in the end she was on holiday at all times.
The most painful thing? Now that Eva is gone, no replacement is being arranged for her. In other words: not indispensable at all. Beau, Humberto and Renze will now just do it the three of them. What’s so strange about it? Beau and Humberto indicate that they do want a replacement for Eva – they no longer want to work such long weeks – but they receive no response.
Peter refuses
Their boss Peter van der Vorst makes it very clear that Eva will not be replaced and that, according to Victor Vlam, is a sign of the future. The television boss of RTL lives in Abcoude a stone’s throw from the presenter, but the whole return to the NPO has been arranged behind his back. He was completely surprised by her switch.
Victor thinks that Eva will eventually be replaced, but that Peter is now just bitching. “I don’t believe that a fourth person won’t be added in the future. I think: what it mainly says is that there will be no successor for Eva in the short term. But I don’t find that very surprising, because it is very difficult to find a successor.”
Sneak at Eva
What is Victor looking for behind it? “I read it as a bit of a step towards Eva Jinek. Of course it is true… She worked there for four years and now she is leaving that company and now Peter van der Vorst says: ‘Yes, no, you actually don’t need a successor at all. We’re not going to replace you. It’s very nice what you did, but it will all be okay.’”
Co-host Lars Duursma in the podcast The Communicados: “It’s the worst thing that can happen to an employee. At some point you retire or you leave a company and then everyone says: yes, no, we don’t actually need a successor for you.”
Soured relationship
Eva must feel bad about that, says Victor. “No, that’s terrible. That really is one of the worst things that can happen to you. It also fits a little into the pattern of a somewhat soured relationship between RTL and Eva. I also thought Eva Jinek was quite sad that she complained that she had to share her editing with the other hosts.”
He continues: “There is clearly dissatisfaction on her side. I think there is some real dissatisfaction at RTL about her sudden switch. They try to cover all of this as much as possible with the cloak of love, but I cannot completely escape the impression that there is real venom on both sides.”