Michel Drucker facing our readers: "I am an old car with a new engine"

" It's okay ?

Didn't you find me too charred?

Michel Drucker worries falsely.

Quite the opposite, after more than two hours of interview with our six readers.

The star host of France Télévisions even adds a layer.

Once launched on imitations of Johnny Hallyday, impossible to stop it.

"I'm too talkative, but it's my job," he laughs.

I didn't say anything for six months, so I'm making up for it.

Apart from the doctors, you are the first alive that I have seen for six months.

"

It is because he has come a long way, Michel Drucker.

At 78, he underwent a heavy heart operation at the end of September, then followed a shock rehabilitation, which he will tell in detail in his next book “It will go better tomorrow”, to be published on April 29.

In the meantime, he confides in his health, his return, the departure of Jean-Pierre Pernaut or his desires for comedy.

"I am a survivor who will resume his profession", slips this captain of the PAF before his return to France 2 on March 28 in "Vivement dimanche" at 3:10 pm and "Vivement dimanche" at 3:55 pm.

HIS HEALTH

Roland Galland.

Hello Michel Drucker.

Are you fully recovered?

MICHEL DRUCKER.

I'm pretty good.

According to my cardiologists, I have a big head start on the rehabilitation program: it has only been six months since I had the operation, whereas it normally takes a year to recover from what I had.

My return, I prepared him like a champion for a competition.

I had to be 100% this Sunday.

I almost didn't come back.

Finding myself in front of you is very moving.

Epiphany Montels.

How did you experience your health problems?

I went through all the stages.

What happened to me is a real scoumoune.

By dint of hearing that

Drucker has an athletic mind and impeccable hygiene

, I ended up believing that I was stainless.

All this saved my life as I suffered a cascade of glitches: a bacteria infected part of my heart, the mitral valve, the leg, I had a triple bypass, and I also had small signs of stroke.

At the hospital, I had to get used to the isolation, the loneliness, the pain too.

I especially discovered the exceptional professional and human quality of the nursing staff.

Roland Galland.

Did your operation make you think about continuing your career?

One piece of news was the best drug: three days before my operation in September, I received a visit from the president of France Televisions, Delphine Ernotte Cunci, and number 2 Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez.

I offered to find a replacement

(Editor's note: Maud Fontenoy),

because I thought that I could no longer do my job, that I would have consequences.

My bosses assured me that I was expected.

Then I only thought about my return.

The nurses repeated to me

Vivement dimanche

!

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"It's miraculous, anyway ...": behind the scenes of Michel Drucker's great comeback

And you, what do you think when you look at yourself in the mirror?

I think I'm starting to look like the TV guy again!

When I first saw my face after three months, I was stunned.

I had to gain weight (8 kg out of the 11 lost) and at 78 brooms, it's work.

I have become a rehabilitation pro.

I'm going to do more sports because I feel so much better.

HIS RETURN TO TV

Romain Brouwer.

How do you approach this recovery?

Neither stage fright nor anxiety.

It's more of a homecoming, especially at the Gabriel studio, where I have been for 40 years.

I resume with a lot of desire and fishing.

My concern is to regain my memory and my intellectual liveliness.

It's already miraculous to be still here since 1964 and I come back with a bonus of several years.

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Marina Millot.

With the pandemic, the format of "Vivement dimanche" will evolve.

The red sofa too?

No.

The sofa will stay with me until the end of my career!

However, there will be a little less.

No more than four guests at the same time.

Michel Drucker wanted "to do a job which [him] fascinates, but not to be someone famous" ./LP/Philippe Lavieille  

Bernard Vautier.

Are you going to slow down a bit?

In my job, you cannot be diminished.

Either I come back fully or I do not come back.

I was already seeing movies from home and going to rehearsals so I wouldn't go to bed late.

I will continue to work remotely.

But there are things I won't do anymore.

The Ventoux, it will only be by electric bike, for example.

My daredevil side also ended when I parachuted, flew with the Patrouille de France, plunged under the ice floe with Luc Besson.

THE PANDEMIC

Epiphany Montels.

What have you missed the most in recent months?

Friends, the public, my family, my job, the stage.

And above all to look at the sky, to go out.

After the second operation following an infection of my chest scar, I woke up with my left foot 90% paralyzed.

It took me months to be able to walk with my dog ​​again.

Marina Millot.

How did you approach the health crisis?

I was a hypochondriac and will remain so.

Now I have a brand new heart and was vaccinated very early on with Pfizer.

I was scared of the virus, but she was swept away by my other fears, the severity of what I had.

READ ALSO>

Michel Drucker: "My heart was stopped for a few hours"

Romain Brouwer.

Would you also have done the AstraZeneca vaccine?

Yes of course.

The cases of thrombosis are only a few hundred out of millions of vaccinated.

Of course you have to get vaccinated.

Eric Brunschweiler.

What do you think of the situation for cinema, concerts, etc.

?

Will culture emerge strengthened or weakened from this crisis?

It is a very hard blow for culture.

I put myself in the shoes of my friends and intermittents, technicians… We all can't wait for the shows to resume, people need them.

But I will not throw the stone: being in business at the moment, faced with this unprecedented situation, is complicated.

The journalist and writer says he has been vaccinated against Covid-19./LP/Philippe Lavieille  

HIS CAREER

Roland Galland.

You weren't the family favorite.

Did you suffer from it?

The fact that my father knocked me out with this question

what are we going to do with you?

was a stimulus.

At the hospital, I thought about his complaints.

I thank him for having been very demanding.

If I could redo the course, I would hang on to studies.

Epiphany Montels.

Younger, would you have imagined having such a career?

No.

I wanted to be a doctor.

I started out as a sports reporter because I was crazy about sports.

I wanted to do a job that fascinates me, but not to be someone famous.

Fame happened by accident and I have always considered that those who come to see me were more famous than me.

I never imagined being in front of politicians, becoming a friend with Johnny Hallyday or that the Head of State and his wife would call me to check on me.

I wanted to be legitimate in the eyes of the most demanding and it took a long time.

The switch was made after 30 years when I received policies in

Vivement dimanche

.

My great pride is to still be here.

Success is not about making yourself known, it is about lasting.

However, when Jean-Pierre Pernaut, an example of duration, announced that he was leaving, it challenged me, because he was ill and he stopped at 70 years old.

From the bottom of my bed, I said to myself:

Maybe he's the one who is right.

What if the lesson of all this wasn't to hang up?

Eric Brunschweiler.

What prompts you to extend?

I haven't said everything and I can still improve myself.

I had been on television for 30 years when François Mitterrand awarded me the Legion of Honor.

He asked my mother if she was proud.

She replied:

yes Mr. President and I hope that this decoration will be an encouragement to progress at last

.

I work all the time.

I learn a lot by watching my colleagues, including Laurent Ruquier.

I am not bored, because I do not do a routine job.

When I started out, Léon Zitrone advised me:

Don't have any as a specialty.

The only chance to last is to be versatile

.

With him, I took a hell of a lesson.

You don't want to give way to young people?

I watch them a lot and I gladly give way to them.

A few years ago, the ball did not go far.

The list of over 50s who have left is impressive.

When I had this health glitch in September, I thought I wouldn't get through it.

Bernard Vautier.

You've always been called nice, but to have such a career do you have to have character in this ruthless world of show biz?

Cynicism, aggression, malevolence, it's old fashioned.

We live in such a difficult time.

All my career, I have been said to be too benevolent, too consensual and kind, bordering on complacency.

That's my nature.

It's so hard to do this job that I never felt the need to turn on an artist.

You can get anything with kindness.

I have very rarely banged my fist on the table in my 57-year career.

“I haven't said everything and I can still improve myself,” says Michel Drucker./LP/Philippe Lavieille  

Can you name two people from show biz that you like and two that you dislike?

Jean Ferrat and Guy Bedos were real friends.

There are others for whom I regretted not having devoted a

Vivement dimanche to them

, including Dick Rivers or Michel Piccoli.

As for those for whom I have no sympathy, do you think of Cousteau?

Becaud?

Ah, to Laurent Delahousse?

(Editor's note: he said he was "not a good guy").

We explained each other during a lunch.

I am not a man of conflict.

Romain Brouwer.

Who to succeed you?

Me!!!

No I do not know.

Cyril Féraud will have a long career, because he brings together young people and seniors, it is very rare.

He's talented.

Even if he is divisive, Cyril Hanouna does one to two hours of live daily, without a net, where everything relies on him and it's impressive.

With Christophe Dechavanne, it is the Lucky Lukes of the valve that are short and fast.

The one that amazes me the most is Ruquier: doing three-quarters of an hour of an interview with Finkielkraut or Bruno Lemaire, Ségolène Royal, also having a rapper, talking about a play, reading books while hosting Les

Grosses heads

, the flagship radio show, it's incredible.

Epiphany Montels.

What shows have marked you in recent years?

Yann Barthès

daily

is very strong.

The Tour de France broadcasts are also very impressive.

Otherwise, I like

La Grande librairie

on France 5. François Busnel, like Bernard Pivot, is not an intellectual and he knows how to address the general public.

I also like Jamy Gourmaud.

If I had had teachers like him, I would have studied a great deal.

SEXUAL ASSAULT

Bernard Vautier.

What do you think of cases of incest, rape that happen in the public square?

It all started with the Duhamel affair.

Since then, one scandal has chased the other.

It does not concern personalities any more than anonymous.

Me, who comes from the countryside, it has always existed.

Except that we didn't talk about it.

Social networks have changed everything.

Not always for the better.

For Richard Berry, it is very violent, even devastating.

The presumption of innocence no longer exists.

I know them all.

I was surprised by such revelations.

Epiphany Montels.

And Patrick Poivre d'Arvor accused of rape?

The free speech of women is very important.

Afterwards, I stick to the words of Claire Chazal, who describes Poivre as a seducer and cannot believe that he is violent.

It must be very hard for him.

The media lynching bothers me a bit.

I have never judged the confreres and it is not today that I am going to do so.

Eric Brunschweiler.

Are you worried about being in the eye of the storm one day?

I'm not afraid of much.

There is no hidden file.

My wife will tell you that I am at ease.

We are not many in this profession to reach 50 years of marriage.

We went through it all.

I am not easy going.

I am very anxious.

Being very demanding of me, I can even be tyrannical at times.

What is your view on the attitude of Gainsbourg, who had said to Whitney Houston “I want to fuck you” during your show?

It has marked me all my life.

They talk to me about it twice a week.

Today he would do it again, I would kick him off the set.

At the time, I lacked composure.

Years later, I co-presented with Claudia Schiffer, the

World Music Award

in Monaco.

In the evening, guess who dines at my table?

Whitney!

She told me that the streak with Gainsbourg was her worst nightmare.

ITS PROJECTS

Roland Galland.

Are you going to continue “Vivement dimanche” at the start of the school year?

In principle.

Even though my contract ends in June.

For once, it doesn't worry me more than that.

I would like to put new talent in the spotlight.

I think about an evolution, a tête-à-tête.

I am going to finish the season first and take a vacation.

My project is above all my book,

It will go better tomorrow

, which will be released on April 29.

It is a tribute to the public hospital, to the nursing staff, which tells in detail what I have just experienced.

Show, filming with Claude Lelouch… Michel Drucker is “addicted to the stage”.

LP / Philippe Lavieille  

Romain Brouwer.

Are you going back on stage?

Oh yes, I'm leaving in January with my second show that I could only play ten times because of the epidemic.

I'm going to make changes with what I've been through, the confinement.

I await the agreement of the cardiologists.

I am addicted to the scene.

At first, I just wanted to feel what the actors I receive were going through.

And I got caught up in the game. I haven't been the same since.

And my guests perceive it.

You've been seen in many movies where you play your own character.

Does a composing role itch you?

I will be in Claude Lelouch's next film.

It doesn't matter what role.

And I dream of playing a doctor, that would have made my father so happy.

Or a sick person.

Bernard Vautier.

Do you have other projects that are close to your heart?

Take my electric bike back, climb the slopes of Provence.

And re-pilot a plane.

The cardiologists gave me the green light… As long as I don't climb too high!

(Laughs)

To see if I'm still believable, I would have liked to comment on a football game.

And if I was still physically strong, I would have followed the Tour de France.

I can't wait to be at the end of June to see if I have picked up the pace.

I am an old car with a new engine.

I need to prowl the mechanics.

Roland Galland.

Do you have an anecdote about Johnny to finish?

One day, he called out to me:

How come, when we are practically the same age, that you are not quite old yet and that I am no longer very young?

I answer him:

But Johnny, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, I play sports, I see the doctors all the time, I go to bed early

.

Each time, he retorted:

What a stupid life!

Today, he would laugh a lot by telling me:

It made you a nice leg, you should have booze

.

Michel Drucker and the readers of our journal

/ LP / Philippe Lavieille  

Around Michel Drucker, from left to right:

Eric Brunschweiler: 57 years old, business engineer, Argenteuil (Val-d'Oise);

Épiphanie Montels, 20, business student, Paris (15th century);

Bernard Vautier, 68, retired from L'Haye-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne);

Romain Brouwer, 28, employee in events, Lambersart (Nord);

Roland Galland, 78 years old, retired in Wissous (Essonne);

Marina Millot, 30, risk prevention officer, Villiers-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne).