The wick is always impeccable.
The southern accent still audible.
The abdominals still present.
Only a few wrinkles on Grégory Basso's face betray the 18 years that have passed since “Greg the millionaire”.
"It was crazy", remembers today the one who made his return in "Les Vacances des Anges", this Monday at 6.15 pm on NRJ 12. "The time of the broadcast, TF1 had sent me to Mexico, then to United States.
But when I returned to France, it was madness.
People recognized me, stopped me.
It even freaked me out sometimes!
But I don't regret anything.
It was the show that changed my life.
"
🔥 The adventure begins in 5 days!
☀ # LVDA4 in the Dominican Republic
🕕 Monday to Friday at
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- NRJ 12 (@ NRJ12lachaine) March 24, 2021
In the role of a false millionaire surrounded by twenty singles, Grégory Basso, 29 years old at the time, attracts up to six million viewers in the second part of the evening on TF1.
And creates a character.
With a phrase that has remained cult: the famous "I'm hard everywhere", pronounced during a dinner with Marjolaine, a contender, following many naughty innuendos.
" So what ?
If I was all hard, what's the problem?
he laughs.
In fact, it was a joke that people picked up on.
But I fully assume it.
"
Comedian, then singer
Now that the show is over, it remains to be seen how to convert this exposure.
Grégory Basso then signed an exclusive contract with a TV production company, and started a career as an actor, on the boards, in the play “On shoots well on the rabbits”.
“One of the best experiences of my life,” he recalls.
On stage, you can't cheat.
And I haven't found a single bad review in the press.
"Followed appearances in" Venus and Apollo ", on Arte, in 2005, then" Under the Sun "on TF1, the following year.
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But over the years, the notoriety fades.
In 2010, the phone rings.
TF1 offers him to be part of “the Celebrity Farm in Africa”.
“I accepted, because it was a good stamp above all, he admits.
And I told myself that it could put me back on the front of the stage.
"
The show is more talked about for its clashes than for its audiences.
“It's my only regret,” he confesses.
But the adventure was fantastic.
The setting was exceptional.
And I have met some great people, like Surya Bonaly and David Charvet.
»Here again, Grégory Basso tries to stay on the front of the stage.
And even try his hand at music.
"Maybe it was a mistake ..." he laughs.
He then participated in the science fiction series "Metal Hurlant Chronicles", broadcast on France 4. The adventure lasts two seasons, in 2011 and 2012. Then more news.
“I wanted to withdraw a bit from all that,” he assures us.
Financially, the former glory of the 2000s is also seeing its income decline.
“I was on and off from the show.
I did autographs in nightclubs.
A few pills here and there, he explains.
But there were also times when I didn't win a round.
And there you have to go to work.
"
A brawl the day before the shoot
At the end of 2020, the production of “Vacances des Anges”, on NRJ 12, is looking for a villa in Reunion.
She contacts Grégory Basso, who moved there with his wife in 2019. And offers him to join the show, in a role halfway between host and season sponsor.
He accepts.
“It was a way of coming back for me,” he explains.
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But on the eve of the filming on the island, an altercation broke out between two candidates, their nanny, and the son of a local elected official.
The production gives up.
“It was especially a shame for Reunion.
It would have been a great exhibition for tourism, ”says Grégory Basso.
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A few weeks later, however, shooting resumed, except for the candidates involved in the brawl.
No longer in Reunion, but in the Dominican Republic.
“I felt the same stress on the first day of filming as when I launched
Greg the Millionaire
,” recalls the artist.
But it was great!
So much so that he wishes to repeat the experience.
“I hope I will continue to work with them.
It did me a lot of good.
And I want to make the most of it.
"