After five visits as a simple candidate, Cyril Féraud will become this summer a recurring character in "Fort Boyard". At 35, the host of "Slam", on France 3, realizes a childhood dream: to participate in this show where it all started for him. Because it was in "Fort Boyard" that he started on television as an intern, at 17 years old.
You are, finally, character of "Fort Boyard"! Have you been discussing this with production for years?
CYRIL FÉRAUD. Honestly, I never imagined myself working at "Fort Boyard"! The idea was prompted by the patroness of France 2 entertainment, Alexandra Redde-Amiel who, discovering my link with the show, simply offered me to be one of the characters. The producer of the Fort loved this idea and Cyril Gossbo went straight out of his abundant imagination.
Cyril Gossbo, is that you?
It is a giant and talking doll bearing the image of Cyril Féraud, Father Fouras' favorite animator. Suddenly, I run a cell where I submit candidates to a real TV game with desks and wacky questions called "Slaïme", in reference to this viscous and fluorescent paste, very popular with children. If they don't answer well, they get buried in slime .
Aren't you afraid that this character will stick to your skin?
I've been talking about my physique and my teeth for years, which I swear I never got whitened! And there, I can have fun with this caricatured character. Because he is obsessed with the whiteness of his teeth and his brushing. Like the Barbie Ken, he has a variety of costumes. And all the tics of the presenters of the 1980s. The proof that he is very far from me: I needed an hour and a half of makeup every day for me to become Cyril Gossbo. I did not hesitate for a second, because I found the idea brilliant. I think this self-deprecation will make viewers laugh.
How does it feel to return to the Fort by the front door when you started as an intern?
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It was both a monumental kif and a lot of emotion to come back there, eighteen years after my beginnings as an intern. Especially since a good part of the team has not changed: Father Fouras, Olivier Minne, the makeup artist, the one who designs and builds tests, etc. I shed a tear when I left after six days of filming, because it was "Fort Boyard" that made me want to do TV. And I definitely join this family.
Next step, replace Olivier Minne?
No, for me the circle is closed today. And I never asked myself the question. Moreover, it does not arise: the place is not to take because Olivier Minne animates "Fort Boyard" in an amazing way. I'm already very busy between "Slam", "Nobody had thought of it! "And" the Treasure Map ", it was a real headache to have to shift everything to free myself just one week ...
You know this Fort by heart. Are the measures taken to protect yourself from the Covid-19 changing the atmosphere?
The Fort Boyard canteen - where you usually eat fantastically well, is closed. But other than that, it doesn't change much. On the air, viewers will not see the difference, except that the candidates no longer wander the corridors, but stay in front of the treasure room. Wearing a mask, respecting social distancing, no longer bother anyone. One month after the end of confinement, we are all used to it, in supermarkets, on the train, in the office or on a TV set.
And are you going to be able to save the “Treasure Map” with rules of distancing?
Yes, we will be shooting before the summer the programs canceled at the start of the coronavirus crisis, with a whole health protocol. We will have masks inside the helicopters. If they accost people on the street, applicants will be required to respect social distancing. If they get hitchhiked, they must go up to the rear of the vehicle!