Watch the clip gert table:
From “embarrassing” to “unbelievable”. Astrid Coppens, 41, and Natalia Druits, 43, are being bashed on social media after the first episode of the series. Astrid and Natalia: Back to reality. The idea of allowing the two families to live in poverty for one month did not sit well with everyone. Certainly not for real single mothers, who are barely making ends meet. Several famous Flemish people are now also taking part in the discussion, including broadcaster Ceska Schutters (41) and author Hermann Brusselmans (66).
in Gert table Geert Verhulst also asked his guests on Tuesday evening what they thought of the controversial series. Opinions were divided there. Hermann Brusselmans was harsh in his criticism. “You see, Natalia the sound She shows up and knows she's making a lot of money from it. A day later, she said on a program that she only had 4 euros left for Astrid, who was once with a millionaire.” “These two will be poor for a month. I think it's terrible.”
Lawyer Omar Al Suwaidi immediately responded with a completely different vision. “I don't agree with that. I think we're starting to live in a kind of complaint culture, where every program is undermined after three minutes. I think we should give programs more time,” says Swede. “The audience will decide. If the reviews are not good, it will be removed. If it continues to grow, it might get a second season.
Final viewing figures for Astrid and Natalia: Back to reality It's not available yet – viewing is often delayed – but the first episode reached 137,000 live viewers. There are also enthusiastic comments on social media. “Poverty is only real poverty if you have been in this situation for years. Then your clothes and shoes wear out and you have no money to replace them with decent things. “Being creative for a month with little money is very different from poverty,” one wrote. “I don’t think people “People who really live in poverty can laugh at this.”
Eye-catching: Ceska Shooters, VRT 1 presenter, also expressed her dissatisfaction with the new VTM 2 program on Instagram. “I think of all the single mothers who can't 'do' the job, but live it every day. Not being able to work part-time, but overtime. They would be so happy just to have a car.”
Volunteer work
VTM spokeswoman Ten Danschetter understands the hype, but stresses that there has also been a lot of positive feedback. “There are people who criticize, which is also allowed if you're working on a sensitive topic, but we also read a lot of positive comments online. People who are very curious about how Astrid and Natalia are coping. Single mothers also say they love the attention. You can We highlight this topic through our reporting program, but we chose a light-hearted approach to reach a different audience. It is also not a program about poverty. Above all, we want to create a beautiful program. This time with the idea that four out of ten working people face difficulty in Make ends meet financially. We want to say to these people: ‘It's a shame that you can still do this every month.'” Natalia and Astrid also mentioned that what they have to deal with is only a small part of what people with limited incomes really go through.
Some also wonder whether Astrid and Natalia will donate compensation for their cooperation on the program to charity. “Making television is of course their mission,” says Danchetter. “But the first episode is not representative of the entire programme. Later, they talk to mothers who work alone, do volunteer work at Moeder-Zorg in Turnhout, and also work in a chicken stall or a craft shop.
Watch a (controversial) part of the program Back to reality:
Natalia herself explains on Instagram the purpose of the program. “For a month, we tried to capture the lives of single mothers who juggle caring for their children and working part-time every day… Of course we were making a TV show and this wasn't the 'real' show, but we wanted to create some awareness about how difficult it is to make ends meet for 4 months. Every 10 single mothers in our community.We know this is a daily struggle for many people.
“Communicator. Avid web fanatic. Alcohol practitioner. Award-winning organizer. Bacon advocate.”
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