Talpa wants their stars such as Britt Dekker and Wendy van Dijk not to participate in the ratings hit De Slimste Mens. The fear is that this will cost its own flagship SBS 6 viewers.
The reason we never see SBS 6 stars sitting in the chairs of De Slimste Mens is because big boss John de Mol doesn’t allow it. He doesn’t want it, because the quiz is a huge competitor of his own channel. The program attracts a lot of viewers and the media billionaire does not want his own stars to contribute to this.
Tough competition
Presenter Philip Freriks revealed it in yesterday’s broadcast, because ‘director’ Marco Louwerens was a guest on the show. Until recently he was television director at Talpa. “As Talpa director, you forbade your stars to participate in De Slimste Mens. I thought that was pretty lame. Why was that?”
Marco then explains: “Yes, tough competition, Philip. That’s just a million viewers who might not watch Talpa. That will not happen.”
‘Wait a second!’
Philip doesn’t think that’s a strong reason. “But wait a minute. That is enormous publicity for Talpa if the stars are here.”
Marco: “Yes, you can see it that way, but we were very tough.”
Philip: “Didn’t you see it that way?”
Marco: “No, sorry.”
John not enthusiastic
Philip: “But you secretly watched The Smartest.”
Marco: “I looked very often, yes. I had been asked before and then John said, John de Mol… He made it clear that: well, participate… That’s what he thought: hmm. He didn’t forbid me, but now I’m a free man.”