Johan Derksen has expressed surprise at Wilfred Genee's new television show Mi Dushi, which features romantic interviews with Dutch celebrities on Curaçao.
Genee, known for his sharp interviewing style on Vandaag Inside and BNR, appears in Mi Dushi in a significantly softer role, engaging in intimate conversations with guests like Patty Brard.
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Derksen praised Genee's hard work on the program but admitted the change was striking.
"I have worked with him for twenty years and he is a real tough guy. But now he is a gentle man asking sweet questions.
I have to get used to this role," Derksen said on his podcast Groeten uit Grolloo.
Despite this, Derksen gave the show a respectable rating of seven, noting it ranked twelfth in viewership during a typically slow summer period.
He acknowledged Genee's desire to showcase a different side beyond his usual collaborations.
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Meanwhile, Dutch media criticized the show's tone.
Television critic Lotte Krakers described the format as a "stylistic break" that did not suit Genee, pointing out his awkward attempts to bring empathy that seemed influenced by his previous work on Vandaag Inside.
In the first episode, the conversation about Patty Brard's daughter ended in a tense exchange, with Genee asking, "You can now ask your daughter: why?"
which was met with silence from Brard.
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The show also touched on intimacy, with Brard preferring affection over "raw intimacy," to which Genee responded dismissively, "That is beautifully described," revealing a struggle to convey genuine sincerity in the new format.
