Gijs Groenteman states that Marcel van Roosmalen and he could stay at SBS 6, but according to Marco Louwerens that is not correct. “Talpa lost interest due to the success of Hélène Hendriks.”
The hit show Today Inside had two replacements last summer: first Marcel & Gijs, then De Oranjezomer with Hélène Hendriks. Because Marcel van Roosmalen and Gijs Groenteman did not do as bad as expected, many people shouted that SBS 6 had made a great move by bringing in the men.
‘We could stay’
Critics shouted that Marcel & Gijs should perhaps be broadcast all year round, for example during the weekend. Well, the euphoria was short-lived. Hélène Hendriks appeared to score much better with her Oranjezomer. And so Marcel and Gijs’ commercial adventure fizzled out.
Yet Gijs Groenteman now shouts in the VARA guide that they could continue as usual at SBS 6. “That’s right, we could stay or return to BNNVARA. What was decisive is not the money, as is said here and there, but the fact that Marcel and I also want to make programs separately – and that is possible at the NPO.”
Candid Marco
Media expert Victor Vlam talks in the podcast The Communicados that Gijs is not entirely telling the truth here. “Yes, they have had discussions there, that is certainly true. But the interesting thing is that during the closing party of De Oranjezomer, the director – that is Marco Louwerens, who has now been succeeded by Frans Klein – said something about it.”
What did Marco, until recently Talpa’s TV boss, say? “He gave a speech during the closing party. He almost made a rather sassy comment in passing, because he confirmed that Talpa was in conversation with Marcel and Gijs at some point, but that they lost interest when De Oranjezomer got such good viewing figures.”
‘Very understandable’
Understandable, says Victor. “Because indeed: De Oranjezomer scored about twice as many viewers as Marcel & Gijs, so for that reason alone it makes sense to continue with De Oranjezomer, and besides, it is actually much more of an SBS program than Marcel & Gijs that was. So I completely understand that from the content.”
He continues: “But I was surprised that it was said out loud during that closing party, because I can imagine that Marcel and Gijs don’t really like that. But that does nuance a little bit of ‘we could have stayed with Talpa’.”
‘Future fell away’
Marcel and Gijs could not stay at SBS 6 at all, Victor concludes. “I actually think that at a certain point when De Oranjezomer was a much greater success, Marcel and Gijs’ future at Talpa simply disappeared. That was no longer possible.”
Victor states that Gijs is not honest. “No, I think they are trying to make it a better story than is actually the case, yes. The Oranjezomer, in whatever form, with Hélène Hendriks, is a much more interesting alternative to VI than Marcel & Gijs.”