Since 1985, France 2 has broadcast Telematina magazine created by journalist William Leymergie, who presented it for 32 years, until 2017. The public service man made the decision alone to leave the group to join Vincent Bolloré by becoming the new strong man at C8 midday, by offering the William magazine at midday. He was replaced initially by Laurent Bignolas, then the show has undergone a huge facelift at the departure of the latter. Since the start of the 2021 school year, pairs of journalists have embodied the show: during the week, Thomas Sotto and Marie Portolano are the hosts, and on weekends, Damien Thévenot and Maya Lauqué replace them. But since this Monday, January 8, 2024, Telematin finds itself confronted with unprecedented competition: a new morning show on TF1 presented by Bruce Toussaint and called Good morning.
But while Bruce Toussaint had already stolen two columnists from his rivals (journalist Maud Descamps and general practitioner Vincent Valinducq), the former BFMTV journalist did not hesitate to send them a little dig by inviting him to his table. . William Leymergie himself ! Sophie Davant’s companion accepted the invitation from TF1, and thumbed his nose at his former colleagues, whom he nevertheless greeted by indicating that he would continue to watch them every morning: “As a priority, I look at my old comrades. These are young people that I saw starting out, and then I will go around, and you will be in the tour, of course”.
“From TF1’s point of view, it’s funny, but he could have abstained”
Guests of What era this Saturday January 13, 2024 alongside Michel Drucker and Flavie Flament, Thomas Sotto and Marie Portolano gave their opinion on the surprise visit of William Leymergie to them. And if they find the idea of TF1 and Bruce Toussaint brilliant, they nevertheless regret that the one who launched the magazine Telematin and made its success today trying to scuttle it : “I found that it was a good idea on the part of TF1 and that it was not necessarily a good idea on their part to accept (…) For the guy that Télématin created, who is when even at the origin of the success that is Télématin… I think that from the point of view of TF1, it was funny (…) It’s clever, it’s funny. After him, maybe ‘he could have abstained’ estimated Thomas Sotto.
Amused by William Leymergie’s tackle, Marie Portolano wondered if the septuagenarian hated them: “I said to myself : He must hate your duo, he must not like what we do. No just kidding. It was surprising to see him there. It’s true that it was surprising.” Michel Drucker, however, made a point of recalling despite the criticisms expressed by his colleagues at France Télévisions that William Leymergie remains a very great professional, and that he “an exceptional career”. Besides TelematinWilliam Leymergie also hosted Recreation A2 on the public service between 1978 and 1985, Disney Dimanche between 1979 and 1984, but also the 1 p.m. news for four seasons, between 1986 and 1989. At the beginning of the 90s, the journalist tried to become an animatorby taking the reins of a game show called Score to beatbut which did not meet with the expected success.