VIDEO. “Especially angry because my daughter was sitting next to me”: Radja Nainggolan and Barbara Sarafian bury the hatchet after “addicted to drugs” statement

Voilà, bury the hatchet. A week after Barbara Sarafian insulted Radja Nainggolan in ‘The Smartest Person in the World’ by saying that he is “a bit addicted to drugs”, the two made up live on TV.

“What do you know about Radja Nainggolan?” It was a question that Barbara Sarafian asked last week during the ‘Open door round’ The smartest person in the world still had to find some keywords. “Car accident. Slightly addicted to drugs. Tattoos. Cockscomb. Stop,” said the actress. Presenter Erik Van Looy corrected Sarafian by clarifying that Nainggolan is not addicted to drugs, but the damage had been done.

The midfielder reacted furiously on Instagram afterwards. “Addicted to drugs?! This will have consequences… Never touched it and then hear something like that?!”, it sounded strong.

Sarafian joined us on Thursday evening Gert’s table and the incident was mentioned again. “Radja sent me and I thought about it for a long time,” Sarafian said. “I tried to put myself in his head and looked for the right words to sincerely apologize, because of course you don’t like to see something like that appear. I don’t feel too bad about apologizing.”

Excuses

And she immediately got the chance to put those words into practice, because suddenly Nainggolan himself was on the phone via a video call. He Ninja explained, among other things, why that statement had made him so angry. “I was especially angry because my daughter was sitting next to me,” he said.

Sarafian then spoke. “Hi Radja,” he said reluctantly at first. “They were stupid words. And I think your supporters feel the same way because they’ve found their way to my social media. But look, this is also a chance to meet you, because I’ve always had a thing for you. Although I may have expressed it unhappily. I would therefore like to apologize to your family, your supporters and to you of course.” Nainggolan then decided to bury the hatchet and accept her apology.

Afterwards it was also about his football future. “I haven’t found a new club yet. I’m still at home waiting, but if nothing comes, I’ll stop. And then become a national coach? No, I’ve suffered enough with that already.”