The face of the ORF program “Matching with Philip” speaks of a mistake. But he insists he was never Strauch's personal trainer.
Last week, conversations between former vice-chancellor and FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache and Philipp Jelinek were made known in the ORF project “Fit with Philipp”. Jelinek asked Strache for support for a moderator position at “Guten Morgen Österreich”. (“Dear Heinz, the cake is now served… We must urgently set a course for me.”) Now he was the first to speak.
In a video on Instagram, he says chats are a mistake. “It was stupid that I wrote it,” he says. Jelinek apologized to her fans: “If I hurt someone or went over the mark, I want to apologize,” the “nation's leading gymnast” says in the video.
“Of course I jumped at the chance.”
However, Jelinek insisted that he was never Strach's personal trainer, as has been repeatedly rumoured. He trained at the same gym as Strache and the two were chatting. Jelinek reiterates that he has never been a member of a political party. Jelinek promises to talk to everyone. Because in the end it's all about the game for him. For 20 years he repeatedly applied to perform at ORF and spoke to hundreds of people. “Of course I jumped at the chance.” Jelinek said that if he had known other party leaders such as Werner Kögler (Greens), Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) and Pamela Randi-Wagner (SPÖ), he would have asked them too.
“Fit with Phillip” is currently on hiatus. Jelinek took this week off. The allegations against Jelinek are being investigated. He can be seen again and again with “Fit with Philip”. (edition)
