From 2001 to 2016, TF1 broadcast the game Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with Jean-Pierre Foucault, before relaunching it for a few months with Camille Combal between 2019 and 2020. For several years, the game had numerous variations in prime-time, with celebrities who came to play as a duo for associations. Among these celebrities was never the singer Dave, who, although approached by the production, never appeared on the air. And for good reason… As he revealed to our colleagues at Tele-Leisure this Wednesday, November 1, 2020, the singer, who can be found in bookstores with his autobiography How not to be in love with youreveals that he came up against the ambient homophobia which reigned a few years ago in France, and the distrust that producers and broadcasters had towards of the exhibition of homosexual coupleswhich could scare away viewers.
So, when Dave proposed the production of Who Wants to Be a Millionaireto participate with Patrick Loiseauthe man who has shared his life for more than fifty years, the reaction of Sony Pictures France was clear: “In Who Wants to Be a Millionaire the stars played in pairs. I suggested having Patrick by my side and the production let me know that perhaps it was better that this was not the case. No, we don’t… Maybe it would be possible today. But, at the time, I understood that It was still a bit problematic.” confided the former juror of France has an unbelievable talent.
TV has (fortunately) evolved
Today, fortunately, morals have evolved, and the appearance of homosexual couples on French television no longer moves anyone. We owe in particular to the series More beautiful life the first homosexual couple in French daily fiction in 2005, or the first homosexual marriage in 2013 and the first same-sex parenthood the following year; a few years ago too, the show The Z’amours had opened up to same-sex couples, just like Love is in the meadow. Guest of What an era on France 2 a few weeks ago, Muriel Robin had given a huge rantasserting that homosexual people could not do their job properly in cinema or on television.