April 28, 1985: a day that Chantal Nobel is not ready to forget, and unfortunately for the wrong reasons… As she left the recording of the program Champs-Elyseesanimated at the time by Michel Drucker, the actress of Chateauvallon had taken the road with Sacha Distel – who died 18 years ago to the day from colon cancer – who was then driving his Porsche.
But the trip didn’t go as planned. Around 3:20 a.m., the actress, then 34 years old, found herself seriously injured following a road accident near Tracy-sur-Loire, in the Nièvre. She spent almost forty days in a coma after this terrible incident, before starting a long rehabilitation after waking up. Unfortunately, she has been disabled for life since this tragedy. For his part, Sacha Distel suffered only very minor injuries. On the other hand, he will have received a one-year suspended prison sentence for involuntary injuries.
“80% disabled”
Deeply bruised by this event, Chantal Nobel has since chosen to withdraw completely from public life. No more TV series sets. The fiction Chateauvallon will never have a sequel… “Death in the soul we decided not to shoot a second season” declared at the time Jean-Claude Héberlé, CEO of Antenne 2 (renamed France 2 since).
But since the accident, water has flowed under the bridges. The actress has had time to rebuild her life, far from the capital, in the Var. In an interview given to TV Star in 2009, she decided to give her news. “I am radiant (…) Here in Ramatuelle, my existence is peaceful and happy (…) I remain 80% disabled. Inevitably, my life has completely changed. From these twenty-five years, I remember my resurrection and the love that binds me to my husband”. The latter is a jeweler from Saint-Tropez named Jean-Louis Julian.
“For a long time, I was angry, but it’s over (…) Fifteen years ago, I could very well have shot with a cane and kept the authority I had in Châteauvallon, but this environment is severe! It doesn’t prevent me from being happy” she added. A drama, which has certainly shaken up his life, but which now belongs to the past.