After he divorced his ex-wife, Ruben Van Gucht did not return to live with his parents, but “wandered around a bit”. “I have always been someone who was very independent.” He had already left home around the age of 21 or 22. “Every time there was a break with a partner and I had to bridge the gap for about four months, I looked for another solution, rather than going back home,” says the journalist in the Radio2 podcast.
So the presenter doesn’t seem to mind being alone. His wife Blanka Vlasic lives with his son Mondo in sunny Croatia. “She is not physically present in my life every day, but I wake up with her every morning.” Ruben has a large portrait of his wife hanging in the living room.
READ ALSO. “No, Ruben knows nothing about the Croatian team”: Blanka Vlasic supports both Ruben Van Gucht and her brother during the World Cup
The two met at the end of Blankas’ athletics career, for a TV series The changing room. There was an immediate click, but Ruben was still with his ex-wife. A few years later, after the divorce, the couple reconnected and picked up the thread again.
Ruben 2.0
“We were at the same stage in our lives. She was stable in life, I was stable in life. We promised to take care of each other.” With clear agreements in place, they were both ready to bring a child into the world. And that child would be a real ‘Ruben 2.0’, whom he sees every day via Facetime. “I speak English to Blanka and Dutch to Mondo.” Croatian has not yet mastered the 1-year-old Mondo. “He understands a number of words but does not speak the language.”
The presenter receives many reactions to his unique situation. “It has never been different for me. I understand that people have difficulty imagining this because they raised their children from a different situation. Then I can imagine that it is not easy to put yourself in a completely different situation. But in the end, I care relatively little or nothing about whether others understand that situation or not.”
(Read more below the photo)
A loving home, without a fixed location
Although it took some searching at first for the new dad. “In those first three to four months, or even the first six months, I had to find out what my role is. The child is so dependent on his mother at that moment that you wonder ‘What is my added value?’. “ Since Ruben doesn’t see his son that often, it was even harder for him to feel that closeness. “But that’s all over now.”
READ ALSO. Ruben Van Gucht was not allowed to attend the birth of his son in Croatia: “You also want to welcome the child you create together”
“A loving home”, that is what Van Gucht wants to offer his son. And there does not have to be a fixed place for the two world citizens. “I feel equally at home in Croatia. The most important thing is that the little guy is loved and supported in the goals he wants to achieve, whatever they may be.”
Whether he will ever see his son live in Belgium: “No idea, they are certainly welcome here.” But it has not happened yet. “Right now it’s easier for her to raise Mondo in Croatia.” But the presenter assures that, when Mondo is a bit bigger and can therefore travel more easily, the family will certainly reunite in Belgium. Whether the two will stay here depends on how at home they feel here.
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