It's an unexpected return.
More than five years after her departure from TF1,
Carole Rousseau
is this Friday evening in “Le Grand Concours – Special 20 years”.
On the occasion of the game's anniversary, Arthur invited the host to take control of round 2. Laurence Boccolini, who presented the game from 2018 to 2020, will perform the final.
To discover
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TV MAGAZINE. - Who is behind your return to “Le Grand Concours”?
Carole ROUSSEAU.
-
Arthur called me and said:
“I have something to offer you, a wink.
There are the twenty of the “Grand Concours”, as you are the one who embodied it the longest..."
I found his proposal coherent.
As they say, I am the historic host of this program, I was born with it, it was born with me.
With Arthur, we have known each other for a long time, I owe him a lot.
After my year spent with Jean-Luc Delarue, he integrated me into his team quite quickly.
With Stéphane Courbit, he made me do several different programs: my first bonus, “Plein les yeux”, with Jacques Legros, my first solo bonus... They trusted me and for that, I will always be grateful towards them.
Also read “I left without being able to say goodbye”: the big return of Carole Rousseau on TF1 for the 20th anniversary of the “Grand Concours”
What convinced you to accept?
I did it for Arthur but especially for the viewers.
When I left TF1, I left without being able to say goodbye so I found it quite nice to be able to say both hello and goodbye.
Do you know if Arthur requested authorization from TF1 or warned the channel of his proposal?
I don't know and knowing him, I think he pretty much does what he wants, which is normal.
I wouldn't have asked for permission either if I had been on another channel (laughs), well maybe as a correction.
I have always been extremely loyal, I have always happily fulfilled my role as host and producer on the channel but at some point, it's okay, we're no longer children, we know what we're doing.
On that level, things have relaxed a little, I think.
The chain war was severe.
It seems that today, everyone can move more easily to other channels.
Did you do any training for round 2?
I asked for the questions to try to get used to this little music that I was used to playing, a bit like someone talking to themselves.
This round, for me, is a musicality, that's how I've always approached it.
How did it happen?
It wasn't easy because it had been five years since I left the show.
Coming back to it when it's no longer mine, when lots of things have changed and having tons of kilowatts thrown in my face, I found it very special.
It was something that I had experienced and that I was reliving in a completely condensed, sporadic way, it was very strange but funny.
Did you quickly find your feet?
I found myself much slower than five years ago.
I don't know if it will show up on screen or not.
“When I move on, I move on”
Carole Rousseau
Your return was an opportunity to see colleagues again...
I didn't see them much because I was supposed to be hidden to be a surprise.
But I was spotted by Estelle Denis, a really nice girl.
I met Denis Brogniart, Sébastien Folin, Alexandre Debanne... between round 1 and round 2. But we exchanged quickly.
Have you spoken with Laurence Boccolini?
I didn't know she was doing round 3 so I didn't see her.
We didn't even meet so I wasn't going to call him to say:
"Laurence, so good..."
.
I remember sending him a little message when “Le Grand Concours” resumed, he was the best personality to do it.
Also read “If you don’t cheat, it’s useless!”
: behind the scenes of the 20th anniversary of TF1’s “Grand Concours”
What memories do you have of your years at the “Grand Concours”?
I remember a magnificent team: producer Laurence Jomand, director Didier Froehly... A really great TV team.
I've worked with many, many very different producers.
Several of them were convinced that they were the best producers, that they had the best program while... The “Grand Concours” team was straightforward, honest, with exceptional professionalism which suited me completely. do.
How do you view women on television?
TV for women is difficult.
It was even more difficult when I was there.
Today, women are treated a little better, paradoxically.
Not necessarily on TF1 because there are no more women but on other channels where women have regained the ascendancy, a place they deserve.
I am delighted that many younger people are flourishing, that we are entrusting them with real shows, alone, that they are not necessarily in the service of a man.
I didn't really know that time, my generation was a little more depressed than today's.
What do you watch on television?
Nothing !
I notice that I no longer watch TV.
I can watch things on replay, that's when I tell myself that I took a little hit anyway.
Finally, you do like young people, you no longer watch linear TV...
Exactly, I watch TV like young people today (laughs).
In fact, I don't have time, my children are still young, I had them late, I wanted to really take care of them, to take time for them so I don't watch any shows before 9:30 p.m., I no longer have that reflex at all.
So you don’t watch “The Great Competition”?
No, it's a bit hard.
I only looked at Arthur to see if the rules had changed a bit.
When I move on, I move on.
“C8 has the merit of existing and sometimes, like all companies, it does well and does less well”
Carole Rousseau
In 2018, you moved on by leaving TF1 to join C8...
C8 made me an offer.
I had visited TF1 and I wanted to try something else elsewhere.
I had warned them but I had not even tried to negotiate by saying:
“If I leave, what do you offer me?”
because I'm not like that.
In my 25-year career as a presenter and producer on TF1, I may have had disagreements, that's normal, but I left neither angry nor angry.
Rather a form of indifference that Laurence Boccolini also spoke about which is, I think, the characteristic of management today, it is a bit of humanity as it is today.
That's maybe the only thing that was unpleasant but at the same time, I'm a big girl.
Why did you only stay on C8 for three years?
I went there always happy to renew new challenges.
There was talk of me installing their investigative magazine.
I did some news reporting and it quickly worked well.
Afterwards, I was responsible for doing special stages, there were a few.
Then, Vincent Bolloré decided to change the editorial line to make it “feel good” even though that never works and that was the case.
I did what I had to do as a facilitator.
I accepted the job being paid less, with less visibility, without career consideration, but that posed no problem because I operate more on encounters, energy and desire.
I have successfully installed the broadcasts requested of me.
On the other hand, the producer encountered unfulfilled commitments but I will say no more.
What image do you have of C8 today?
It's a house that has the merit of existing and sometimes, like all houses, it does well and does less well.
We don't see you on TV anymore. What are you doing ?
We live in a world cruelly dominated by men.
I offered myself a fairly enormous privilege because I was the one who left, I didn't want to get fired or ostracized.
Today, I'm wandering between proposals, I'm still lucky to have some.
Except that many don't interest me, don't match my DNA.
By leaving Paris, I was able to devote myself to other interests, related to TV or not.
Recently, I coordinated the television coverage of the Pope's visit to Marseille, which allowed me to see a lot of friends again, to meet other people, it was an extraordinary experience, with the final joy of quite a magical moment, meeting the Holy Father at the Vatican and introducing my children to him.
For several years, I have been involved with the Abbé Pierre Foundation and I am also involved with Frédérique Faveron, creator of Pôdevache, who has just launched, with Professor Marcel Rufo, the Génération Méditerranée association for adolescent mental health.
And on the production side?
I am on an institutional production project for a large country.
It took a little time to get going but we're making progress.
Is a return to television possible?
I will respond whenever the DNA is respected and a program with meaning interests me.
But for the moment, what producers from major chains are offering me is not quite the case.
I'm a television host, not a social media host.
I find it hard to imagine that we are representative only because we expose ourselves on the networks.
I still have a fairly sacred sense of privacy.
Among these major channels are TF1 and C8?
That could be...
Are they the ones stopping you from accepting?
Not at all, it's the program.
I am not angry with TF1 nor with C8.
I say what I think so it displeases some people.