A week ago, Van Rossem already predicted that Today Inside would just return to the tube again. But to say that the American and history expert uncorks the champagne for this … not exactly. “If John de Mol had a little bit of principles, it wouldn’t come back,” says Van Rossem in his own podcast. “We can miss that whole program, and especially that Gijp, like a toothache. I never watch it, so it doesn’t bother me that much. You can be very annoyed by television, but let’s be honest: you don’t have to watch it at all.”

Since his infamous candle story, and even before that, everyone seems to have an opinion about Derksen. According to Van Rossem, the former editor-in-chief of weekly magazine Football International succumbed to its own endless urge to provoke. “In principle, I thought Johan Derksen – whom I interviewed once – was a nice man, who has serious interests. In particular, he knows a lot about the United States and the music that comes from there. But at the same time, Derksen is someone who also likes to provoke. That’s obvious. I understand from the stories that he has suffered from this all his life.”

The Lord Jesus

That Derksen is in the decor of Today Inside He is often tempted to make statements that he later sort of regrets, according to Van Rossem, this is largely due to the ‘infantile’ context of the program. “I think he was unlucky that he ended up in the wrong talk show – well paid by the way. A program in which, and how shall I say it politely, young men’s fun dominates. And in which, moreover, the guiding spirit of this company, Van der Gijp, is a man who has never aged more than seventeen. (…) ‘Gaining the gas with the car’, a big mouth, laughing at sex and shit. An, essentially, infantile world. That is Van der Gijp. A big kid.”

In 2022 it seems unthinkable, but in the distant past Van Rossem himself sometimes took a seat at the table with the much-discussed gentlemen of VI† “I was there once, in a tent like that, and it was completely full of drunken young men. They find Gijp the Lord Jesus. Really and truly. They are convinced that this man has a great mission to fulfill in this world.” The America expert was also a guest once when Van der Gijp was not present due to mental problems. “It was absent for some reason, and then it was a normal broadcast.”

woke vs. piss and shit

Incidentally, Van Rossem is annoyed by both the fanatical supporters and opponents of Today Inside† “Can I say that I find both the woke sound and the shit, piss and sex stories of the young men just as annoying? Moreover, I find it highly odd that talk shows nowadays are mainly about other talk shows. It has become a wonderful, incestuous circus, of which you sometimes think: I don’t have to do that.”

The fact that VI is generally viewed better than the competition, Van Rossem calls ‘not terribly difficult’. “Of course, those talk shows have all fallen quite collectively in the top 25 viewership. I would say: do you want to know something about politics, social developments, about the structure of the Dutch government? Read a decent newspaper. You don’t give a shit about those talk shows. Nothing. It is usually about the song of the Eurovision Song Contest. No, if you really want to know something, you have to read something.”

Date honestly: ‘That will be a problem’

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