It seems that René van der Gijp (63) has saved his marriage to Minouche (50) by negotiating a four-day working week at Today Inside. “We are not getting a divorce.”
René van der Gijp’s marital crisis was big showbiz news last month. At one point their neighbors even started complaining in the tabloids that he and his Minouche were yelling at each other in the garden. Yes, that’s right, Minouche admitted: “We also have arguments sometimes, I won’t lie about that.”
Marital crisis
The cause of those violent arguments in the Van der Gijp household? The workload of Today Inside. Five live broadcasts a week take its toll. “It’s no secret that it’s hard for him. Mainly the pressure to perform well every day. It also makes him irritable at home,” Minouche said.
“Make no mistake about the impact such a program has on a family. That’s pretty intense. From fans who just walk in, bomb threats, arguments on air, irritations among themselves, etc. The family at home is the first to suffer from the tension this brings. (…) I then think: hey, umbrella: figure it out, I’m going to sleep in my own house.”
One day less
It seems that Minouche has given an ultimatum to René: either cut back on VI or pull the plug on their marriage. This week it was announced that René will return to a four-day working week after New Year’s Eve. From then on, he will skip all Wednesdays, and a replacement will be sought for those broadcasts.
Did it work? Yes. The divorce seems to be over. “We are not going to divorce,” says Minouche in the latest edition of Story. “And if that were the case, then to be honest, I would have said that too. When it’s done, it’s done. Then you don’t have to make a fuss about it. But that is not the case.”
Own home
However, Minouche remains in her own home during VI’s broadcast periods. “I have always kept my own home, everyone knows that. I have been there regularly for as long as we have been together, but suddenly that was given as a reason that we would no longer be together. We are still married and happy.”
“René and I see each other every day, walk the dog together, have lunch. And when we are not together, René sometimes calls me ten times a day.”
Scheveningen
Rumor has it that René has bought his new apartment in Scheveningen to make a new start on his own.” René is not moving to Scheveningen alone. He has bought a larger house there and the intention is that in a few years, after his TV career, we will spend our old age there together,” says Minouche.
Until then, Minouche only wants to spend the three VI-free days with René. “We now have something like this: as long as the program is still there, we will go there about three days a week and try to find our peace there. René is very enthusiastic about the new home in Scheveningen.”