In Saturday’s episode of “Every time we meet”, it is the twins Marcus and Martinus Gunnarsen (23) who are the guests of honour.
During dinner, there are tears when the brothers talk about the corona pandemic and their planned world tour, which was put on hold.
The boys, who went on a million-smelling spree because of this, describe the whole thing as a “difficult time”, and share that they thought their artist career was over.
– Did not work in Norway
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The duo, who won the MGPjr with the song “To drapar vann” in 2012 – and who became the youngest ever Spellemanns winners four years later, have made a name for themselves abroad in recent years.
And especially in Sweden: They won the Melodifestivalen in 2024, and then represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest.
– In Norway, it didn’t quite work, that transition from child artists to adults. So it was easy for us to try our hand in Sweden, says the pair of brothers in tonight’s episode.
On an unknown trip abroad
– Huge amount of hate
The Trønder twins thought that two Norwegians doing well in the neighboring country should be something positive.
But when they entered Eurovision as “sweet brother’s” representatives, they encountered a wall of opposition, they say in the programme:
– There was a huge amount of hate. The media wrote that it was treason, we were called the Quisling brothers […]. We feel they have written about us without understanding us. Our career was at a standstill, we couldn’t progress, and therefore changed base to Sweden.
The well-known Quisling comment was made by Dagbladet‘s reviewer, Ralf Lostad, during the Eurovision contest in 2024.
“And now: The brothers Qui .. sorry, Marcus and Martinus,” Lofstad wrote in the review.
Se og Hør has tried to get a comment from Marcus and Martinus via their management. They have not yet responded to our inquiries.
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A complaint was filed
Shortly after publication, the father and manager of the duo, Kjell-Erik Gunnarsen, reacted to the statement.
Reviewer Ralf Lofstad then issued a public apology to the twins. It can be read here.
Despite this, the twins complained to Dagbladet to the Press’ Professional Committee (PFU) in October of the same year, as a result of the report.
“We believe that to be compared to Norway’s biggest traitor and Nazi leader is to break the Beware poster. Should it be allowed to call Marcus and Martinus Quisling in the public media?”, the complaint said, among other things.
When the complaint was raised in January 2025, however, all participants at the meeting agreed that Dagbladet had not breached good press practice.
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– Wasn’t meant to be
Today, Ralf Lofstad (51) tells Se og Hør that it was never the intention to hurt Marcus and Martinus.
– When they did, it was right to be sorry, he comments.
He says that “the half-Quisling formulation was meant to be read humorously and not as a sincere accusation of treason”.
– And of course there was no expression of hatred.
Røper: – We are in contact
Lofstad says that many people – PFU included – understood the joke, “within the context of all the previous uproar around the duo standing for Sweden”.
– To think that no one in the Norwegian press would notice that the Norwegian twins stood for cute brother seems far-fetched. Nevertheless, Marcus and Martinus – and their father – obviously have their own horizon of understanding, and within this they were hurt, which was not the intention at all, he says in conclusion:
– For the artists and the apparatus, I hope that the two of them can now, two years later, put the case behind them and look forward. Being invited to “Every time we meet” isn’t so bad, is it?
– I saw blood running down my thighs
“Jantelov piss”
There is not one particular medium that is highlighted in tonight’s “Hver gang vi møstes”. The twins state that more Norwegian media promoted hatred after their Eurovision participation.
In the midst of it all, they still felt that they received good support from one central person:
– In a panel where the Eurovision contestants were discussed, everyone thought that what we did was terrible. Apart from “Staysman”. It was incredibly good to get that support, says the tearful pair of brothers.
The panel the 23-year-olds are referring to is from the NRK program “Address” in 2024, where Stian “Staysman” Thorbjørnsen (43) advocated supporting the twins.
– We can’t let them grow up. In Norway, we sit like this: “Oh, they’re going to try in Europe now”. It’s such Jantelov piss. I can’t do it, he said at the time.
It is approaching the season premiere of “Hver gang vi møstos”, and we have had a sneak peek at the first pictures.
– Stands for what I said
Thorbjørnsen tells Se og Hør that he thinks Sweden and large parts of Europe accepted Marcus and Martinus as adult artists faster than us here at home.
– I stand 100 percent for what I said at the time. I think Norway struggled a bit to get rid of the impression of the boys as child stars, he writes in an SMS.
Thorbjørnsen says it was lovely to see that the twins first took second place in Melodifestivalen 2023, then won the following year and thus represented Sweden in Eurovision.
Suing the TV channel for a wild sum
– Now I have known the guys ever since they broke through here in Norway, and seen how dedicated they have been. I also know how much they have sacrificed to be where they are now, he comments.
In conclusion, the 43-year-old says that he “always tries to cheer on people who bet and dare to think big”.
