Last July, Laurent Ruquier created a surprise by suddenly announcing his decision to leave France 2 after having served the channel for more than 20 years. “I could have continued to quietly present Children of TV but I still have other desires, other ambitions and I unfortunately see from year to year the reduction of my broadcasts, since I have still learned – only at the end of June! – that there would be no more Big Heads or Children of TV bonuses next season. This is the last sign which confirmed to me that it was time to think about other horizons”he expressed on social networks before announcing that he was joining the editorial staff of BFM TV.
Monday September 25, 2023, Hugo Manos’ companion is expected alongside Julie Hammett to present Ruquier’s 8 p.m. For the occasion, the host therefore granted an interview to Tele-Leisure. An interview during which the TV and radio man returned to his departure from the second channel. According to him, he would never have joined Marc-Olivier Fogiel’s team if France 2 had kept its prime time. “The question was not the number of bonuses. I was just asking that it be renewed,” he explained.
And to continue: “When we stay for so many years in a house like France 2, it’s really insensitive to warn someone at the end of June that we’re not going to do with them the following season. That’s really what makes me made me angry and that’s why I decided to leave, even if Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez insisted that I stay on doing Children of TV. But for me, the trust was broken. We have the right not to employ people, but you can be elegant with them and have respect for the past… I was warned at the last moment as a dirty person and as if I did not count on this channel.”
Also see: “When he gets bored, he breaks down”: Léa Salamé reacts bluntly to the departure of Laurent Ruquier from France 2, with whom she is on bad terms
A new adventure on BFM TV
Laurent Ruquier also clarified that tensions were palpable between him and Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, head of France Télévisions programs. “My presence and my motivation on the air diminished from the day he arrived and for three years. It’s no coincidence,” he said. Today, he is about to experience a whole new adventure. “I had the news channel option in mind for two or three years because I knew that I was out of favor on France 2. At the same time, when Marc-Olivier learned that I was in discussions with them, he ‘proposed BFM.
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