Marie-Agnès Gillot confided in the columns of Paris Match this Wednesday, September 21. The opportunity for the dancer to evoke the death of Patrick Dupond and to make heartbreaking confidences.
On March 5, 2021, the dance world was in mourning. Patrick Dupond, the famous star dancer, died at the age of only 61. “He fought until the end“, had confided his wife in the columns of Current wife before indicating that he had died of a “lightning disease“. A sad news that touched Marie-Agnès Gillot a lot since she was very close to him. In the columns of Paris Match this Wednesday, September 21, the new juror of Dance with the stars made heartbreaking confessions. “His death affected me a lot“she first said before adding: “Patrick was my grandfather“. The two dancers were inseparable for several years and it is not Marie-Agnès Gillot who will say the opposite. “I was only 14 when he took me under his wing. He was open-minded and good-natured, which is not so common in this environment.“, she assured before adding: “Yes, I wanted to follow his path“. As a reminder, Patrick Dupond had agreed to be a juror in the TF1 program in 2018. An experience of which he seems to have kept good memories and which prompted Marie-Agnès Gillot to accept in turn.
Following the announcement of the death of Patrick Dupond, it was his sidekick who quickly spoke on the antenna of BFMTV. “He was a complete artist, a genius. He is the greatest dancer of his generation“, declared Marie-Agnès Gillot, very upset. Subsequently, she wished to salute her talent: “He opened a lot of doors in the history of dance, he made it evolve. We really went from the Middle Ages to modernity“, she had assured. Very proud of Patrick Dupond, the dancer had affirmed that he “stirred up the crowds. Doing a show with him was a memory for life. To see this audience still in a standing ovation, applauding until their hands hurt…”, she remembered. Very close to Patrick Dupond, she added that he was a being “delicious, kind, cultured, erudite. I’m losing a great man, a great friend, and a great part of my life, too.“. Patrick Dupond’s career has been crowned with success, from an early age when he was crowned star of the Opera at the age of only 21. “He danced with panache like no one“, had declared Marie-Agnès Gillot before adding: “That’s why it became Patrick Dupond, a star. He was a very remarkable talent, from a very young age. A UFO, as they say“, she had concluded.
During her speech, Marie-Agnès Gillot had delivered a moving testimony. Very sad of his death, the dancer had wished to salute his talent on several occasions. In 1982, Patrick Dupond was crowned Grand Prix national de la danse before knowing, in 1997, his first dismissal from the Paris Opera. “I think he was bothering“, she explained before recalling that the world of dance is a very complicated environment for artists. “A lot of people weren’t very nice to him.“, she remembered before adding: “But he bounced back, he immediately went back to other paths. It was sure“. Despite the many hard knocks he may have encountered, Marie-Agnès Gillot had mentioned a man who never let go of his arms. Following his serious accident in 2000, he had had 134 bills and his dream was broken since the doctors had told him he couldn’t dance anymore.”He went through all his rehabilitation, his handicaps, he got back on stage. It didn’t rebuild right away, but it did rebuild“, had greeted the new juror of Dance with the stars. “He was an extreme person, in everything he did: in dancing, in life, in cooking, in love, in friendship. He had a heart… There aren’t many people like that on Earth“, she concluded. Shocking secrets.
Patrick Dupond: what did the dancer die of?
When the death of Patrick Dupond was announced, it was stated that he had died of “lightning disease“. No details had been provided until his wife, Léila Da Rocha, spoke in the columns of Current wife. “It is a very difficult fight but miracles exist. We can get out of this. This was not the case for Patrick but you have to believe it. It’s important to keep hope every day that passes“, she had first explained before adding that he died of lung cancer. “The cancer had spread, unfortunately we saw it very late“, she continued, very upset. A disease that Patrick Dupond preferred to keep for himself. “He didn’t tell anyone, it was his wish. We wanted to live and go through this with modesty and together“, had concluded his wife.