Audience: You interviewed five presidential candidates (Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Éric Zemmour, Marine Le Pen, Anne Hidalgo and Valérie Pécresse). Which convinced you the most?
Magali Berdah: I keep my opinion to myself! But what I can tell you is that it will be the first time I have voted since 2002, the only time in my life when I have voted. I was barely of age, my grandmother told me to vote for Chirac…
Have you been hurt by criticism of your lack of legitimacy?
The only thing that hurt me was Karine Le Marchand’s sexually charged remark in The Big Heads. She said : “She didn’t pump me but she pumped others”. It shows his level, I am still the mother of three children. It’s simplistic to think that because we do this job, we’re a bitch. Does she have a higher brain than mine? Me, I don’t criticize it and I know where I come from.
From where, exactly?
I was raised by my maternal grandparents, after my father put my mother, my brother and me on the street when I was 2 years old. And my mother went to live her life in Paris and left us in Saint-Tropez. I didn’t see her again until I was 9 years old. But my life in this little village was great. I knew everyone, I was happy. I felt no lack.
What did your grandparents do?
Of all ! My grandfather sold scrunchies on the beach, then bracelets. He had a restaurant, a printing press… They were people who came from very modest backgrounds, my grandfather was Russian Ukrainian – yes, you have to – and my grandmother Turkish. They left to live in Algeria, where my mother was born. And then they returned to Marseilles after the war.
“I will vote for the first time since 2002”
What did you dream about growing up?
Nothing: you had to work! I served ice cream at my grandparents’ restaurant when I was 8 years old. I remained on duty until two or even three o’clock in the morning. Then, when my grandfather died, when I was around 11, my grandmother explained to me that she could just pay the rent, nothing else. At 13-14 years old, all my clothes, all the superfluous, I had to work to buy them. But that didn’t stop me from going out to clubs!
How did you come up with this idea of creating an influencer agency?
I was in a difficult period. The insurance company I ran was bankrupt. I no longer had enough to feed my daughters. This is where I meet Jazz and Vivian, who explain to me that they are going to advertise on their networks. The big stars were hiding it. On the contrary, reality TV stars were the first to assume it. I tell myself then that there is nothing shameful and that they will be able to ask for money.
After six years in this environment, are there things you regret?
No. I was clearing an unknown world and I could not know where the traps were. But there are things I will no longer do in product placement: cryptocurrencies, online trading, sports betting sites – except Betclic, because I know they are serious. And I think we are at a turning point. There are tons of influencers, you need to offer more elaborate content.
How do you manage to work so hard and manage your three daughters?
I work from 8:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. But my two youngest stayed with their father. I have them every other weekend, plus holidays, and Shauna is a very independent teenager. Which doesn’t prevent me, like last night, from spending three hours one-on-one with her if she needs it. It was very hard for her, who was bullied in college because of me and had to be taken out of school. We actually look a lot alike.
Would you allow them to do reality TV?
It would scare me. Not for the programs themselves, but in relation to the violence of the networks, of everything that happens afterwards, once released. Girls are looked down upon, put in boxes because they entertain people.
“As soon as my boyfriend is not there, it’s anxiety”
You are a beautiful woman. Everything is natural?
I had my breasts redone after my pregnancies and injections against the signs of time.
Question professional life, you are at the top. But personally?
I am 24 hours a day with Stéphane, whom I met two years ago at a New Year’s party. We live together, we work together, we go out together. As soon as he is not there, there is anxiety. On the other hand, he is not my employee, which avoids having a relationship of subordination.
You lived through a real drama last year: your sister was murdered by an unbalanced neighbor…
It was very hard. For now, they are still doing psychiatric expertise on the murderer… The year, overall, has been atrocious. In March, I lost my grandmother and then there was this murder… It was the worst time of my life.
Where do you live now?
We came back to live in France, in Paris, because I associated all these dramas with my move to Dubai. I realized that the most important thing was to be close to my family. Same for Stephane. All that was not the right road, fate reminded me. I experienced a lot while I was in Dubai and today it blocked me. From now on, I don’t run after money anymore, I want to do things that make sense. My next videos will be on societal topics. The new version of me starts this year!
Key dates
1. November 26, 1981
Born in Lyon, before joining Saint-Tropez at the age of two, following the divorce of his parents. She was raised by her grandparents.
2. 2016
Creation of Shauna Events, the first e-influencer agency in France. In 2019, it announced a turnover of 20 million euros.
3. 2019
She separated from her husband after fifteen years of marriage and the birth of three daughters: Shauna, Victoria and Shelly. She now lives in a free union with Stéphane.
4. 2022
She launched her own YouTube channel and hosted a series of interviews with presidential candidates.
See also: “F**** other people”, this sexual allusion by Karine Le Marchand which earned her to be destroyed by a columnist from “TPMP”!
Interview by Anabelle Gentez