Popular TV host Matthijs van Nieuwkerk temporarily resigns over workplace bullying

Matthijs van Nieuwkerk will temporarily step down from his job, and will immediately depart from public broadcaster BNNVARA. The 62-year-old television maker is "cutting ties" with the broadcaster, he told ANP. "The fact that my employer openly doubts my sincerity makes further cooperation impossible," he said.

The presenter was met with scandal this weekend after de Volkskrant published an extensive investigation into the working culture behind the scenes of De Wereld Draait Door. According to dozens of employees in de Volkskrant, the host was prone to "extreme outbursts of anger and public humiliation".

"I notice that many emotions compete for priority: shame for the fear that editors have felt, regret that I literally had blind ambition and therefore crossed borders, sadness about De Wereld Draait Door, my life's work after all," said Van Nieuwkerk.

Van Nieuwkerk, for a long time the most iconic and best-paid presenter for the public broadcasting system, will use the coming period "to come to his senses,"he said. "After that I hope to hear from you again."

He was also previously involved in several TV programs around the Top 2000, the marathon radio broadcast counting down two thousand songs until midnight on New Year’s Eve. NTR decided on Saturday to stop plans to record the Top 2000 Quiz in response to the Volkskrant article.

It is not yet clear what will happen with the program this year.