Yes but, ultimately, Rob is no longer so “average” than that…
“(Smile)! I think the average is more in the way I am. I don’t feel amazing. I don’t feel the best. I’m super passionate about what I do, I’m just a guy normal who lives in Hoeilaart, not in Brussels or Antwerp I don’t think I’ve changed, I’ve always been with the same girl since I was eighteen and I don’t really like the show side. business, either. very fake and have you seen me when we go to an award ceremony, we are really bums, we are really not dressed (smile)!”
Last September at the NRJ Creators Nightyou were also awarded the best Dutch-speaking content creator… in Wallonia!
“It’s crazy that Flanders and Wallonia are so separated… To explain this separation to friends who come from other countries, I always tell them that it’s like the north and the south of Korea. is really a difficult block. I really live in the north of Wallonia, in Hoeilaart. The next village is La Hulpe and then Wavre. . It’s like water and oil.”
How do you analyze this gap between our two Regions?
“I think it’s purely a question of language. And our media are completely divided. They are back to back, facing each other. They talk like this: Flanders talks about Flanders, Wallonia talks about Wallonia… It’s a shame. That’s why I make my videos in English, because I want everyone in Belgium to be able to understand. English, I think they understand better than Dutch or French And for those who live outside the country, it is important not to know Belgium only for waffles and fries. We have so much more to offer than Brussels waffles with crème fraîche and fries. disgusting stuff on it and no one eats in Belgium, just tourists.”
“After six years of DJ sets with Omdat Het Kan, we finally manage to touch the French-speaking side”
Your credo is the same as the Belgian motto: unity is strength?
“I really want Belgium to be united. It’s always going to be difficult with the language but that’s why people love football: it’s a moment when you feel Belgian. Not Flemish, Walloon or whatever. not what. You feel Belgian and it’s the same thing with music. A Stromae or an Angèle really manage to connect people and I believe that, now, with the excitement around ‘We put the potato’. we really had a little taste of what Stromae or Angèle feel. And even more in football when we went to do the DJ sets in Germany. So many French speakers came to see me saying: ‘it’s so good what you do!’. years of DJ sets with Omdat Het Kan, we finally manage to touch the French-speaking side (he has just set fire to the 24 hours bike race in Louvain-la-Neuve, Editor’s note. Even if it’s been three years since we started). plays at Tomorrowland, at Werchter or at Pukkel Pop, it is really difficult as a Walloon to arrive in Flanders or vice versa. I’m very Belgian, I love pushing Belgianness. And it’s great to see that as a Flemish person, you are starting to be accepted in Wallonia. Because you can’t say you’re Belgian if you’re not accepted in Wallonia.”
Who is Average Rob really, the phenomenal “vibe” of the Red Devils fan zones in Germany?
“I’m not a big fan of Domenico Tedesco”
And your opinion on our current Red Devils?
“We have a new generation which is good. It can do great things. I believe that the golden generation was all stars. And it’s never good to only have stars. Because it Maybe there’s too much talent on the field and too much ego Now, we’re going to become a team like Spain at the Euro. They were full of young people, nothing but talent. will be the same with the Belgian team. the impression that people are still very attached to the old ones, that’s something I don’t like with Belgium, we are really supporters of success. As they were world number 1, they can only do so. win But they don’t have enough training together to really create a good synergy except for De Bruyne and Lukaku who have known each other for ten years.
And the coach, Dominic German ?
“Personally, I’m not a big fan. I find that a coach must also be a bit of the face of the team. He doesn’t have a very friendly vibe towards the public. He is very closed and very protective. With Martinez, we had the impression that he was someone from the team. He had a lot of sympathy in any case, he’s still very new, maybe he’s shy. It’s not that I don’t love him but I I have no connection, I’m waiting for the day when Vincent Kompany becomes national coach!”
And you, right?
“So, here, with me, we don’t even qualify (laughing)!”
“Since I had a baby, I’m less crazy”
After the Ironman, Average Rob will attempt the sand marathon with his brother Arno in April 2025.
“No one believed we could do the Ironman, which motivated us and so we did it!”confesses Rob Van Impe (trained by professional triathletes Frederik and Luc van Lierde) who finished the one in Klagenfurt in Austria with an average of 12:26:19, thus ranking 1038th out of 1881 athletes. “Our next madness will therefore be the sand marathon with my brother. But, this time, we’re really going to try to do it as quickly as possible and play a battle between the two of us. The marathon des sables is like a Tour de France because it is in six stages: 250 km in the Sahara desert, you sleep in tents and you have to take all your equipment and your food with you with even a double marathon at one point.”
And to reveal that he even did medical tests to face this ordeal. “Apparently, Arno has the lungs and physiology of an ultra-top athlete. He has the volume of Eddie Merckx in his lungs!” And his brother retorts. “But I just have the body of a trucker (smile) !” As for Rob, he remains true to himself. “I’m very average in fact, a little above average. Today, I’m in better shape than him because Arno had a lot of fun over the last few months… years (smile) !” And Arno, the brother of the man who launched his own beer, “Tout bien pils” jokes on the subject. “Yes, I have to stop drinking! After two or three beers, we’re fine, but for me, after two glasses of wine, I’m in a puddle. (laugh) !”
The sequel, would it be climb Everest like Inoxtag ?
“No, I don’t think so. He really dropped a bomb on YouTube… Which is really good because it’s really going to innovate a little bit in the quality of what Youtubers can offer in terms of documentaries. You don’t need to ‘Being in a TV production company, even if you need a budget, but you can find it if you have a big audience like him. He needed a million euros, but that’s a lot of money. I have the impression that brands are much more open today for projects like that we are in the same approach with the marathon les sables because we also want to create a documentary series on the subject.
“My girlfriend doesn’t want me to do Everest”
And what is your message behind it?
“Do what you want to do. Challenges like that can be scary… But if you put it in your head that you want to do something, you just have to do it. That’s also the mentality I have already always: that you just have to get started, not try to doubt yourself too much. This is the scourge of our society today: people doubt very much. Probably also because of social networks which have. a big opinion, and so you dare less, for fear that people will not agree with what you do The fear of failing, of failing, is a big problem for all people of any age. If you don’t dare. , you don’t move forward. Or, in your own way, by staying cool and not doing too crazy things. But for people like me and Arno, explosive sprinters, impossible!
So what do you have left on your bucket list?
“Already, Everest, I can’t. My girlfriend told me no. But I agree. I’m going to do things that aren’t too dangerous because I have a child of a year too… It really changes you… Before, I was more like: if I die, I die! stuff like a backflip on a jet ski or the skeleton at 90 km per hour, head first. She told me: if you die, I’m all alone! And since I had my baby, that gave me even more responsibility. really looking for less deadly challenges. And Everest, the risk is still 2-3%, which is already huge… And then… I’m asthmatic!
Your dream then?
“A video with Jean-Claude Van Damme would be so good! It’s one of my goals since I started YouTube. Because he’s perhaps the greatest Belgian we’ve ever known. My friends, they watched Spiderman, Batman, and I watched JCVD I saw all these films Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Universal soldier, etc. I also tried with King Philippe but it is also very difficult. very special. I am patient, I know that one day it will come.”
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