A joke at the bar of Today Inside goes completely out of hand for Raymond Mens. What started as a funny story by Gerard Joling is now causing serious unrest in his relationship.
Gerard Joling’s story at the bar of Today Inside about an alleged visit to Almere, where he allegedly met Raymond Mens, was presented so convincingly this week that even Johan Derksen, René van der Gijp and Wilfred Genee started to doubt whether it was the truth. Raymond did not deny it at any point.
‘It was a joke’
Raymond sat in again last night for the first time since the controversy Today Inside. He is now trying to limit the damage and emphasizes that it was all a joke, but the damage seems to have already been done: according to him, the home front is ‘absolutely not happy’. “If it’s about me, it’s not a problem at all, but it wasn’t about me.”
“It was about my friend who does not want to be in this program and has no need for it. What happened, in my opinion, was: Gerard railed against Job, Job went against it and I thought: Job was right, but I better move along a bit and I also enjoyed it, I also liked it, so I think: I move along.”
Too much enthusiasm
It was important for Raymond to please Gerard a little. “I thought: whatever direction Gerard goes, I will follow him! I may have done that with a little too much enthusiasm, but that was just how it went.”
Wilfred: “It seemed like what you said was real.”
Raymond: “Yes, you already said that, while what I thought was strange: the next day I didn’t hear anyone about it. Only people who said: ‘Nice.’ Until you were on duty again that night and said, “I think it’s true.” Then everything exploded and it got bigger and bigger, while: of course it’s not true.”
‘On straight away!’
Table guest Hélène Hendriks understands Raymond. “Everyone knows it’s not true. I noticed it straight away.”
Johan: “I did have doubts. We all moved with Gerard, right, because Gerard is so dominant, you have no other choice. You have to go along.”
Raymond: “Gerard also sent a very sweet message saying: ‘This definitely shouldn’t have happened this way’, but I said the same thing to Geer: it’s not your fault, but I took part in that joke. Then you get a misunderstanding that people think it is true.”
Unappreciated
Wilfred then reveals that there is a bumblebee in the Human house. “It wasn’t appreciated so much at home?”
Raymond: “That was not appreciated, no. And rightly so.”
Johan: “I find that very annoying. So if you spoil a relationship a bit with jokes at this table.”
Hélène: “Of course we all have someone at home who also has to accept what we all spout on TV. That is always nice, of course.”
No trouble
Johan then asks Hélène about the older man she has at home: Frans Vinju, 22 years her senior. “Does Frans have a problem with that?”
Hélène: “No trouble at all. Wonderful.”
Johan: “And mine isn’t looking, so I can shout anything.”
Wilfred: “But Frans has a bit of the same thing that your friend has: you don’t actually want to fit in in that area. Just distance yourself and be able to do your own thing.”
Hélène: “Yes, of course. I completely agree.”
Wilfred: “That’s why it got a bit out of hand.”
Raymond concludes: “It was nice that Gerard was there, he should come again soon, but then I have to pay more attention.”