Valerio Zeno returns to television. After five years out of the limelight, he will return on Monday as host of a new series Real girls in the jungle. In conversation with NU.nl, Zeno talks about what he has been doing in recent years and why he was no longer seen on TV.
“I’ve seen my phone explode before,” Zeno says. “Like, when Dennis Storm and I during Guinea pigs eat each other’s flesh. But when it became known that I real girls was about to introduce… I have never received so many messages before.”
For fifteen years, Zeno was a regular face on television. He started his career on the night show 6 packs, then switched to TMF music channel and was then active for BNNVARA for almost ten years. There he presented programs such as You will have it, Dennis against Valerio in On my corpse. In 2018 she said goodbye to BNNVARA.
It was reported in the media that Zeno had been fired from BNNVARA. It’s not true, says the presenter now. “At BNNVARA, I enjoyed working for nine years. I finished my contract neatly. And then I suddenly read that I had been fired. Either that I no longer wanted anything to do with the TV world, or that I wanted focus on my DJ career”.
All of this has never been like this. “When my contract with BNNVARA expired after nine years, I thought: I won’t do anything for a year.” However, new projects have come his way, like making a podcast and a Videoland series about sneakers (his big hobby).
The presenter was therefore busy and did not miss the attention he received during his BNNVARA time. “I’ve been in the television business since I was 17 and it’s been going on ever since,” says Zeno. “I actually liked having it a little quieter. If something comes along, it’s fine, but I’m not the type to panic everything. I don’t go to game shows or movie premieres to get into the picture to come.”
“I’m Not Necessarily a Jungle Boy”
From Monday we will see Zeno weekly on television, because then the game show will start Real girls in the jungle. Twelve female contestants, all known from the reality or influencer world, compete in a series of games in the jungle of Laos.
The program was also broadcast between 2011 and 2013, with Britt Dekker, among others, as the winner. Gaby Blaaser, Michella Kox and Janice Blok are among the participants this year.
Zeno says the show’s makers immediately thought of him when they decided the show would return. “They could already guess that I was chasing those girls in my snow-white sneakers. That seemed like a fun idea too: I’m not necessarily a jungle boy.”
As the host, Zeno keeps the contestants in line and explains the rules of the games. “I’m known not to talk fast and candidates have a 20-second attention span, so that was another challenge.”
The presenter himself is not competitive at all. “When I play a game I don’t care who wins. Those girls instead: when the game starts they get black in the eyes. They do everything to win. Their talent is to open the shirts of the game during the game. looking for the law. I have them love all of you equally.”
Tastes Real girls see you next season? “I have to say that three weeks in the jungle is a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever been abroad that long. But I certainly didn’t want to miss it.”
