Not every truth is perhaps good to say…and even less to hear. Before becoming the favorite host of the French, ahead of Karine Le Marchand, Sophie Davant or even Hélène Mannarino, Julia Vignali, Karine Ferri and Cristina Cordula, Faustine Bollaert worked a lot, and climbed the ladder little by little. Journalist for 7 Days TVshe joins the top 20 of the casting of Loft Story for her writing, but is unmasked a few days before being selected alongside Loana and Jean-Édouard. Alexandre Devoise was the first to recruit her, on France 3 in a show called Holiday side. She then joined the magazine Closerand became a columnist for Jean-Marc Morandini on Europe 1. In 2005, she returned to public service by becoming columnist of Looking forward to next SundayMichel Drucker’s show.
Guest of Quelle époque this Saturday January 27, 2024, Faustine Bollaert looked back on her complicated beginnings in radio and television. In 2005, when she was a columnist for Jean-Marc Morandini on his show The great live mediathe journalist and columnist that she was was responding to orders from Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, newly appointed director of the station. But the media man, who also headed France Inter, France Télévisions and Public Senate, was not kind to Faustine Bollaert, and was convinced that she would never have a career… because of the “shit” around her !
“My job is going to be to clean up this shit.”
“There was a sentence one day that struck me, it was Jean-Pierre Elkabbach (…) I loved this man very much (Jean-Pierre Elkabbach died in October 2023 at the age of 86, editor’s note). day, it was he who gave me my first chance on Europe 1, where he gave me a show of testimonials (…) I was super happy, but I was still a beginner (.. .) He looked at me and said: You’re a diamond in the rough… with a lot of shit around; and my job is going to be to clean up this shit (…) It was horrible !” remembered the one who actually presented the magazine We need to talk about it on Europe 1 in 2007, when she was only 28 years old.
If she never really knew “what did it mean” Jean-Pierre Elkabbach by affirming what “(was) surrounded by shit”Faustine Bollaert however has very good memories of Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, without whom she would perhaps not have the career she has today: “Obviously, it’s ultra violent because the words used in this office, rue François Ier, impressed me from a monster like that. And at the same time, he gave me a chance, he put me behind a microphone.”