– Should never have done it today – VG

Less than 3 hours ago

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In a “Skavlan” documentary next Saturday, Fredrik Skavlan (55) dives into old success stories – but also into less successful sessions.

It is in conversation with his former “Skavlan” partner Niklas Källner (45) that the talk show veteran sums up 25 years on screen, 300 programs and 2000 guests. Last Saturday it was over.

The interview was filmed at the cabin of Skavlan and Maria Bonnevie (48) on Skaftö in Lysekil in Bohuslän, during the planning of the very last «Skavlan».

When Källner asks what it’s like to be a talk show host, Skavlan replies that he is primarily worried because he has not yet proper have felt the emotions.

– And it’s mostly about all the relationships that have arisen along the way and not really about me sitting and talking to famous people. The is fantastic in itself, but it’s about all the lessons or else. We have lived through each other’s divorces, childbirths and parents’ deaths, he says about the staff.

Källner confronts Skavlan about the storm that arose when politicians Jimmie Åkesson was a guest in 2015, and that Skavlan over the years has received criticism for his interview style towards women.

«Skavlan flirts on TV and uses the female guests in “First & Last” as a garnish and sex objects», claimed historian Jon Hustad in 2003. Since then, Skavlan has been criticized several times for the way he talks to women.

– There are quite a few things I did when I was 30 that I would not do now when I am 55, says Skavlan now – and brings up a current case.

– Marit Bjørgen was with me maybe 11 years ago. She had won Olympic medals.

In Marit Bjørgen’s biography «Winner Heart», which came out earlier this year, the cross-country queen (41) tells about how uncomfortable she felt it was when Skavlan in 2010 asked her to show her arm muscles on TV.

Skavlan now reminisces about how it all unfolded, how they showed Olympic moments on screen in the studio and that he thought «What is what she’s made of? ”

– I started talking about her muscles and made her show them. It was a body focus, then, right? Which was uncomfortable for her. But I did not understand that, he says.

Skavlan says that in the depths of him there was some uncertainty about what a talk show should be like, a mixture of journalism and entertainment.

– And in the process where I have to find the shape, I go wrong. When I sit there and think I’m funny, and joke about Marit Bjørgen’s arms.

But there and then he did not see it as problematic.

– Today it just feels …, he gestures and makes a grim sound.

– I played more of a role in the first years, a young host who was a bit “cheeky”. I should never have done that today, says Skavlan.

Marit Bjørgen thinks it is good that Skavlan sheds light on what happened.

– I have finished with this case, but there is respect for the fact that he is humble about it, she says to VG.

– Skavlan and I have talked together since then, and he has apologized. I did not want to show my arms, but felt that I had no choice.

The uprising surrounding the Åkesson interview was divided in Norway and Sweden. While many Swedes were opposed to the SD leader being invited at all, Norwegian critics believed that Skavlan fired a man who was lying down.

Skavlan says he had an idea of ​​how the reactions would be.

– I knew that if I did not ask demanding questions to Jimmy Åkeson, then I was an obvious prey for very many in the Swedish public. It was a difficult interview to do, he now admits.

Skavlan also says that he wonders if any of the reactions were that he “had become completely Swedish”.

– I do not feel it myself, he says and smiles.

TV 2 states that Skavlan does not want to comment on the documentary.

Skavlan says that both he and the ideals have changed over the years. He describes his career as “sitting with Rubik’s cube for 25 years and never quite making it happen”.

– That’s one of the reasons why I’ve been doing this for so long. There is always one wrong color on the page, he says.

Skalvan also trusts that the plan ten years ago, before he was invited to Swedish screens, was to give up while he was at the top. However, he rounds off with bottom numbers here at home. This autumn, the average has been 216,000 viewers.

– I do not know what to do after the last broadcast. So I have an open, exciting future. We’ll see, Skavlan chuckles in the documentary.

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