For many years, Christophe Hondelatte presented the program Bring in the Accused. He notably explained why he wanted to present the show.
The first broadcast of the show History of… date from the year 2000 on France 2. The show would then become the famous Let the accused enter. In Serial killer, autopsy of a fascination, Christophe Hondellate returned on the genesis of the program which was a great success with viewers for many years. For twelve years, he revealed these most sordid and moving stories of killers: “I had no appetite for crime, for the subject. I wasn’t comfortable. I got into it because I wanted to show my face on TV.”
It was in 1999 that the journalist was contacted to present the show : “France 2 cannot be refused”, he explained on Europe 1 a few years ago. And to continue: “I was 36 years old. Vanity undoubtedly, a need for recognition, the feeling that this would be an outcome. In short, bullshit…” Christophe Hondelatte also told Europe 1 that at the time this type of animation was innovative: “The idea of having a presenter in a documentary had never existed before in France. Today, with Échappée Belle, La Maison France 5, all these programs are hosted by a presenter. We invented a type of show and that’s what saved us and that’s why it still exists”, he declared.
“I sentenced some guys to real life imprisonment”
But the success of the program had its setbacks. Indeed, the repercussions of Let the accused enter often being too hard for the assassins to bear. “I almost quit long before I quit for good in 2011. I have a lot of trouble with this double punishment that this show could put in place since it was widely watched in prisons. The inmates lie about their past and suddenly everything is revealed to everyone on television. When they come out of prison, everyone tells them that they know their story. When I watch Bring in the Accused again, I tell myself that I have sentenced some guys to real life sentences. It is troubling”he concluded.