Ruben Van Gucht has once again found himself in the eye of a storm lately. This time, however, it concerned professional matters, and it emerged that he had gone too far a few times at the VRT. In the meantime, the presenter himself came up with a response.
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Van Gucht does not give up and hits back after criticism
Notable absences
Van Gucht has not been seen in Het Journaal since November, where he often serves as a sports anchor. The reason? Unprofessionalism, it goes. Colleagues opened up about some incidents involving Van Gucht. For example, at Ghent-Wevelgem he sent his cat to do the starting interviews, where he had to be replaced as a last resort.
“He was still in bed. Rutger Vanseveren then had to quickly take over the live interviews on the starting stage,” said an anonymous colleague at HLN. He also remained absent to present the sports block during Het Journaal.
Van Gucht in defense
Van Gucht himself now responded to this smear to Radio 2, although he immediately stated that he would ‘not go into details’. “I know that the VRT does not do this, and I will not do that either,” he said. Nevertheless, Van Gucht was fiercely defensive.
“I think that some people might have doubts in the meantime. But once and for all: I have always liked working for the VRT and I still like working for the VRT. And I think the VRT also still likes working with me,” says Van Gucht.
He absolutely does not want to hear about a lack of professionalism: “I think I carry out around 150 to 200 assignments a year. I have worked with hundreds of people from sports, the media and showbiz and, apart from a few things, it went smoothly.”
“That actually says everything that needs to be said when it comes to who I am, about my professionalism and about my collegiality,” Van Gucht believes that the messages about his person have clearly crossed the line. The images of the interview with Van Gucht can be found below.
