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12° Nicosia,
23 August, 2026
 
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Yelling, crying, and presidential interventions: Thekla’s latest beef

When psychology, journalism, and politics collide, even the President can’t catch a break.

Onasagoras

Onasagoras

The beef of the week,which apparently involves even the President, is definitely the one between journalist Kousoulos and Thekla (not the Arka one, our own little firecracker). I’m, of course, referring to the notorious Thekla Petridou: psychologist, panelist, author, and YouTuber. Wow, not even 'Sikou Pano' Tornaritis claims so many titles! So I went to watch some of her videos when I heard she requested Christodoulides’ intervention (with whom, she explained, she was classmates in private English lessons) in her feud with Kousoulos. As you know, I go crazy for beefs that mix psychology, journalism, and politics.

I saw her shouting, laughing, then immediately crying, frequently heading to the bathroom during live streams, invoking Christodoulides, and repeating the cycle: yelling, laughter, tears, bathroom, calling on Christodoulides’ intervention, all in some psychologically heavy, yet inexplicably entertaining and dangerously addictive videos! Poor President! As if the sarcasm about pensions and posts from his “national cousin”, which indirectly but clearly make him look unreliable, weren’t enough, now he has to deal with Thekla’s drama? Have mercy and let him breathe.

Christodoulides and I were classmates in private English lessons. Thekla Petridou

How did our new national beef start? In short, and since it seems this matter will end up in court, Thekla was persistently asking Kousoulos to take a stand in her dispute with a Greek psychologist whom he hosted on his show. Suddenly, he blew up on social media, accusing our Thekla of being a “public law fraudster,” hinting at her involvement in extortion and unethical behavior, and even posted a photo of himself with Nikos Christodoulides! That photo was the straw that broke the camel’s back: Thekla immediately contacted our Nikos, who cut short his holiday on a friend’s boat, and replied to his childhood classmate. The rest is history, as we say in my village.

“To give birth to a Venizelos, struggles must be carried,” wrote Odysseas, obviously inventing a new personal catchphrase, since in the original it refers not to struggles (Olympic or childbirth) but to centuries. Apparently someone pointed out the mistake and he corrected it, but one can’t help wondering whether he sees himself as the new Venizelos. Even the most narcissistic syndromes have limits, otherwise a tiny misstep can send us over a cliff. Also, why does our Venizelos communicate with his sister through public messages on X? Doesn’t he have her phone number?

Hallelujah. The President will donate his pension (once the relevant voluntary renunciation law is officially passed, for the roughly one year remaining in his term) to charitable institutions. An act welcomed by many who previously criticized Christodoulides. But the naysayers, who never find a good word to say, claim this signals the start of the 2028 election campaign and a desperate attempt to boost his low popularity. I strongly disagree. After all, it’s well known that our young Nikos started his 2028 campaign (some say at Nicaros’ prompting) about 10 years ago, and never stopped. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the eight stylized poses he posted from a church at a recent memorial. The show must go on.

This op-ed was translated from its Greek original.

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