The sixth season of Eric Goens’ House starts on Tuesday. His first guest is actor Jacques Vermeire. “I am half a fool”, it sounds several times.
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“I hope that house of yours will be better than expected, because you see what I have to leave behind”, Vermeire begins the episode. He has only just arrived at the house and together with the viewers he immediately gets to see a scoop: in the TV room Eric shows an episode of FC De kampioenen that has never been seen before on television. Vermeire’s mouth literally falls open at the sight of those unique images. This brings him to Dimitri De Tremmerie, aka DDT: a legendary role that he nevertheless took reluctantly 30 years ago. Too great a risk, he thought at the time.
“I have worked very hard. Selling shoes in the morning, recordings of FC De champions in the afternoon, recordings for The Three Wise Men, indoor shows, Oei Jacques, and an acte de présence in a disco at night. The money poured in. Save for later. I am a product, very commercial. ”
Blinders
Jacques Vermeire’s career has been rocketing for decades, but his private life has been anything but smooth. His first marriage to his high school sweetheart failed after seven years. Then followed the difficulties in the relationship with his second wife Eva Pauwels, which were widely reported in the press. His ex Martine was killed in a car accident and his later partner Muriel lost the fight against cancer.
“I have the gift of not feeling sorry for myself and being able to handle that. You have to put on blinders and keep going. ” Even if it turns out that Jacques himself has cancer, he stays on stage. “You always have to show that there is joy in life, even now in corona times.”
Pulling faces
“I’m half a fool,” Vermeire says regularly during the program. Is it all the time laughing, screaming, roaring with the incorrigible face puller Jacques Vermeire? Or do we also get to know his other half? The man who had to cope with a lot of setbacks behind his cheerful faces? And do we also gain insight into the success of the ‘commerçant’ Jacques Vermeire?
The immense success of FC De champions, the popularity of his indoor shows, the wildly popular TikTok dance films with daughter Julie: everything Jacques Vermeire touches seems to turn into gold. And he knows that himself: “This episode of Het huis, that will be another top program. But yes, Eric, who did that again? I, not you, ”he says with a laugh.
In the following episodes Eric Goens will receive actor Rik Verheye, Olympic medalist and fashion designer Élodie Ouédraogo, singer Andre Hazes Jr, radio and TV presenter Siska Schoeters, virologist Marc Van Ranst, entrepreneur Marc Coucke and Bazart singer Mathieu Terryn in The House.
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