He was the face of reality television.
First on M6 by hosting the first confinement show in 2001, “Loft Story”, then through “Secret Story”, from 2007 to 2014 on TF1.
Then,
Benjamin Castaldi
was one of the pillars of Cyril Hanouna in his show “Touche pas à mon poste” for 7 seasons.
And although he has retired from the small screen since last September, he is not abandoning the projects.
To discover
TV tonight: our selection of the day
In the shadows, he shines in the play
Bungalow 21
written by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt.
The latter concerns the adventure experienced by Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand, even though he was married to the host's grandmother, Simone Signoret.
And it is this same play which will be broadcast on France 2 this Tuesday March 26 in the first part of the evening.
The main female characters are played by Emmanuelle and Mathilde Seigner.
“We almost wrote the play with Emmanuel for Mathilde Seigner but she didn’t want it.
We had offered it to other actresses but not much positive feedback.
[...] She was a fan of my grandmother and there was a fear of not being up to the task,”
explained Benjamin Castaldi on the set of “Buzz TV”.
The actress finally accepted and then everything happened.
And after several months of performances - the play opened at the Théâtre de la Madeleine in Paris on September 14 -
Bungalow 21
performed well.
“It’s not a triumph, meaning we weren’t sold out.
But we must have been at 60% on average
,” confided the host before adding that a tour and an American adaptation were in preparation.
“A friendly fifty-something”
This experience in the theater did not, however, mark his television career.
And if the subjects on which he could intervene are not defined, one thing is certain, it is that he will not return to his first love: reality TV.
This even with the announced return to the screen of “Secret Story”.
“We are very angry with TF1, they have a hatred against me, rave,”
he declared before adding that even if the channel had come back to him, he would not have accepted the presentation.
“I stopped
“Secret Story”
of my own free will.
I told the channel that I didn't want to take shows like that anymore.
There is a gap now.
The candidates could be my children.
You have to know how to move on.
Now I’m a nice fifty-something
,” he said, smiling.
Benjamin Castaldi also congratulated his successor, Christophe Beaugrand, upon the announcement of his appointment as presenter.
And if this message could have been interpreted in a tone of irony, it was not.
“I didn't want to present “Secret Story” and then the two pinpins of TF1
(Xavier Gandon and Ara Aprikian, the leaders of the group, editor's note)
hate me.
»
Coming back to Christophe Beaugrand, the “Buzz TV” guest recalled how much sympathy he felt towards him.
“I think he was very good in his LCI morning show and I think he was wrong to return to
“Secret Story”
because I think it’s going to fail.”