The bubbly host is once again in charge of the dating game 10 PERFECT COUPLES from Monday January 3 at 6 p.m. on TFX !
Audience: It’s off again for a season of 10 perfect couples. What does this program consist of?
Elsa Fayer: Ten men and ten women must discover their alter ego. Each week, during the couples ceremony, I reveal to them the number of matches found. A bit like in the game Mastermind, it is necessary to have the capacities of deduction, to validate and to discard combinations. There is also a collaborative aspect because they must have found the ten perfect couples at the end of the program to win the 200,000 euros.
Still not jaded after five seasons?
I love this program. It allows me to meet real people. I spend two months with the candidates, I am their big sister, sometimes I also get tough. It takes a lot of energy! I come home rinsed but happy.
Do you realize that you started on TV almost forty years ago?
You go back a long way! Indeed, I had been spotted at 8 years old in my dance class for a Karen Cheryl show. But it was only a parenthesis. My parents did not know this environment, they worked in the textile industry. And they were a little scared for me. I quietly continued my studies. And when I was 24, I started production. It was on Fun Radio that I made my first aerials.
Your career is extremely rich. When you look back, are there things you regret?
Nothing at all ! I would do the exact same thing again. I love to take risks, otherwise I get bored. It is true that between Bataille et Fontaine, an ultra popular program, and Europe 1, it may seem inconsistent. But I can’t resist challenges, I am like that.
Reality TV, you say yes right away?
I was scared at the start. But Who wants to marry my son? I liked it because we tackled real family issues: the love of a mother for her son, how far it can go … I was aware of the somewhat “patriarchal” side of the concept, but I , I spent my time telling girls that they were masters of their own destiny, that they had the right to say no.
“I will warn my daughters against reality TV”
The girls in these programs are mostly remade… What do you think?
They do what they want! It is true that for some, I preferred them before. But there are people who need it to feel good. It is a process of seduction. These instagramable girls, it comes to us from Kim Kardashian, and yes it makes young women dream. But it’s just a part of their life, they sexualize themselves to be watched and, for the most part, they come back.
Got two 11 year old daughters looking at 10 perfect couples with you?
They love ! They recognize me well, I am the same as in life. Apparently, I tend to correct mistakes in French …
What if they ever want to do reality TV?
I will warn them, because I do not believe they have the weapons. Participants have a certain breastplate and armor to experience these adventures. When you have a warm place somewhere, I don’t think you should go. Although I would never say no to my children, I believe they will not want to.
After all these dating shows, have you become a professional dating?
Imagine that it is in my nature. I am a real couple scanner! On the other hand, I am not a seducer, I let the person come. It’s kind of my crash test. Because I like courageous men, who dare, who know what they want. Of course, I send signals! (Laughs.)
“I am more tolerant of infidelity”
You run a company. Are you the boss at home too?
Yes, the standards are often women! But we always need someone to take over. I have the ability to organize things quickly, but he has to manage the girls on his own when I go on set for two months. He does it all, he’s really awesome. This does not prevent me from calling them every day, I even do their duty with them in FaceTime! And when I come home, I say yes to everything …
Does longevity necessarily rhyme with loyalty?
At 25, I would have told you yes, at my age I would say no. I have become much more tolerant of it. A couple is a long time, it is constantly reborn from its ashes. For my part, I prefer not to know. When you have children, a life that you care about, obviously it’s not easy to manage, but I would be very naive to tell you that I am still there.
Tell us the truth, what’s your secret to being so hot at 47?
I know how to manage my diet. When I have put on weight a little, I stop the sugar and the bread. I eat a minimum of meat, but when I crave a chop, I eat a chop! And I do a lot of dancing with my friend Mia Frye.
Botox or not Botox?
I came back! I tried and really, I didn’t like it at all. I like faces that move. Youth is not a question of wrinkles, it comes through the eyes. I don’t put any pressure on myself for my age. It doesn’t worry me at all. I like my little wrinkles! And I see myself going on for a long time.
Key dates
1. 19 November 1974
Born in Paris, in a family of traders. She is the oldest of four children.
2. 2010
She took her first steps in reality TV with Who wants to marry my son?, After a career in entertainment, in particular with Laurent Ruquier.
3. 2010
Birth of her twins Liv and Emy, fruit of her love affair with Zach Hanoun, married in 2016. She also has an eldest daughter, Ambre, from her first marriage.
4. 2022
Launch of the fifth season of 10 Perfect Couples on TFX, a program she has embodied since its debut in 2017, in addition to The Battle of the Couples, since 2021.
See also: Fiji Ruiz (The Battle of the Couples) reveals the details of his serious car accident
Interview by Anabelle Gentez