Faustine Bollaert: “I manage to forget myself if I know that I will be useful”: Current Woman The MAG


You must have already come across his show in the early afternoon. With It starts today, on France 2, Faustine Bollaert arrives daily in the salons “At coffee time”. Faustine Bollaert lives the stories of the guests who come to curl up on her sofa. “I always wonder what his mother will take what he says”, she tells us. After the shoot, the host, half big sister, half good friend, does not always turn the page: “When they are waiting for the results of an ultrasound, an exam, or if they have changed their life, I want to know!” If she had not launched into journalism, this mother of 2 children (Abbie, 7 years old and Peter, 5 years old), married to the writer Maxime Chattam (now master of detective novels), would have seen herself at the head of a marriage agency. “I still have that little blue flower side, I like to make people happy.” Is she happy? Certainly. Sometimes a little “worry” to come across a book called “Give meaning to death” on her husband’s desk and intended for her writing work, Faustine Bollaert tries to give meaning to the lives of the people who write the story of her show. The rest of the time, the 42-year-old host enjoys the simple pleasures of her life: “Decorating, traveling, seeing girlfriends, talking about clothes, going for walks with the dogs.” Or go for a Twister with the kids “At 8 o’clock in the morning”. “Usually, it’s more the role of my husband, who is a great player, but with the Covid…”, she slips. The health crisis has certainly turned everything upside down, but Faustine Bollaert is determined to settle for a long time in French TV. Her affair with them didn’t start today, but it’s made to last.

You gather nearly 1.3 million followers on average every day! Not too much pressure?
FB:
It is a great pride and satisfaction. I am the showcase of the work of a team. I like this story with the public which has lasted for 4 years. When I arrived, the hut was a bit damaged! Our meeting took a long time, as in a love story. Today, I feel like I am part of their family. It fills my heart to imagine people accepting me as an add-on to their living room at coffee time, to accompany them through this intimate afternoon moment.

You are also watched by Millennials, while they are not necessarily the target …
FB:
It’s true, I realize that I am popular among young people and I did not see it coming. It says something about our society. In the age of Youtube and ultra-marketed programs, we realize that young people like to listen to a positive program from people chatting on a sofa. This youth wants tolerance, it is a bearer of hope. We give the floor, but we also deliver the message that the guests want to convey.

“I have felt uncomfortable before a show”

How do you manage to receive these messages with kindness?
FB:
The guests tell me about the extreme intimacy of their lives, bring me into their family, their past, their darkest thoughts. I don’t want to take them as a traitor. Before the shoot, I remind them that they are on television. I open doors for them without asking too many questions. I leave them masters of what they say, so it never falls into voyeurism, I never brutalize my guests. Sometimes I know there are moments in their story that would be interesting for TV, but I give up if I see that the person is not going on their own.

Have you ever asked the question too many?
FB:
No, but I have felt uncomfortable before a show called “My Husband Killed My Child.” The young woman was in shock, in total denial. For me, it was inaudible. I spoke to Stéphanie Guérin, the producer of the program. We sought the advice of psychotherapists who assured us that she felt the need to speak, that it was important from a therapeutic point of view. We warned viewers by explaining that we do not want to put a veil on existing dramas. And during the show, I realize that it does him a lot of good to confide. I can forget myself if I know I’m going to be of use. When dealing with incest or domestic violence, I receive overwhelming messages like ‘I complained because I saw your show.’ Now, every difficult moment, I try to see the glass as half full.

“Sometimes I come out stunned, it’s ultra-violent”

Going to a shrink did you feel good?
FB:
Yes, it’s important to bring down my emotional reserve, to empty myself of these energies that are not mine. Sometimes I come out stunned, it’s ultra-violent. I do a bit of a shrink job, so my shrink gives me advice, especially to get back into his own life … After the show, I also often take an hour in the dressing room to play down.

Do you have the feeling that you are changing attitudes on social issues?
FB:
Of course. I feel that I have a great responsibility, that I am not carrying alone, because I am the spokesperson for a work that is also done upstream. When you do a show on transidentity or surrogacy, it’s a bias, especially in the choice of guests. A dad said that he was a militant of the Manif pour tous, homophobic, until the day his son told him he was gay. He tells us all the intellectual journey he had made and addressed a mea culpa. We are not editorial writers, we do not say what to think: we aspire to understand differences without being judgmental. It is a commitment.

“My mother has a filing cabinet where she keeps my blankets”

Are you receiving negative messages?
No, I am surprised myself! We try to verify everything, our legal department locks each story. This has its limits since we received Christian Quesada [condamné pour pédocriminalité, ndlr.]… But we never had someone tell us something that hadn’t happened. Otherwise, everyone could come and say anything! The rare times that I had “annoyed” reflections, it was not for a social issue but for very personal stories, like when I received mistresses of married men. I imagine that stirs up very deep and intimate fears.

How do your parents see your career?
My mom has a filing cabinet where she keeps my blankets. My parents are happy that I make my dream come true, they are proud of me, but it’s a non-topic. They are much more concerned with whether I am happy in my relationship or with my family!

Does your family watch you on TV?
My husband gives me his opinion. He knows me so much that he can see when I’m late, when I’m upset because a guest cut me off, when I’m going to cry… He’s in my head! My parents are afraid that I will say something stupid (laughs). And my children prefer The Secret Box [autre émission qu’elle anime sur France 3, ndlr.], the guests are singers they love. They don’t really care about mom watching TV, but I think they’re proud when you recognize me. And then, they grow up in the countryside so they don’t have too much pressure. My notoriety and that of my husband, it is not a subject for them. My husband writes, so he’s home a lot. The other day they swung ‘But dad doesn’t work?’ We had to explain to them …

“I feel better in the provinces, I am not part of the Parisian elite”

Who are your mentors?
These are more shifts in my professional life. Patrick Sébastien gave me advice that remains. One day, before arriving on the air, he threw my files around and said: ‘Watching TV is who you are! At first you’re gonna stutter but who cares, you’re gonna be who you are. ‘ There was also Michel Drucker, with whom I arrived at the time of the snipers. He told me : ‘In 6 months, you will be good, there, you are anything but you’. He taught me that I could be funny without being in the attack, explained to me how to be in the roundness… he was terribly right! Today I think I’m the same on TV and in life. And then there were people who reached out to me, and second circle mentors like Anne Sinclair, whom I only met once but who taught me in spite of herself what it was like. ‘get into people’s TV.

Is there an area where you would not be expected and in which you would like to evolve?
I would love to do cartoon dubbing! Or a nighttime show, I miss the radio. I would also like to do theater, go on stage… I did a few internships at Cours Florent. I dream of making a big Vaudeville, a good boulevard play!

Where does your complex on your childhood come from in a bourgeois environment in the 16th arrondissement of Paris?
It’s not much of a resort but I think I was born popular, in a good way. I feel better in the provinces, I am not part of the Parisian elite. I do not spit on this environment, but I do not recognize myself in it. For example, when I was young, I didn’t know how to dress to go to Les Planches [célèbre boîte de nuit parisienne, ndlr.]. One day, Michel Drucker told me: ‘Your strength is that you are not fashionable, so you will never go out of fashion.’

How do you see the health crisis?
We are creating a generation that is a little more traumatized than we think. Children grow up with the mask, with this physical fear of contact with the other. They touch each other less, evolve with the idea that the other is a danger. Even if my children live it well and are preserved, it leaves indelible traces in them. I can’t wait to shut down the system. We all start to really take the reflex to say hello by the elbow, when is it really going to stay?

Has the pandemic changed anything in your life?
The appetite for life. Like everyone else, I want to travel, see my friends, savor the freedom. When this is all over, we’ll treat ourselves to a honeymoon with life.

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