Former face of M6 then TF1, where she co-presented Video gag with Bernard Montiel until 2008, Olivia Adriaco, 55, designs gardens in the Basque Country. She tells us about her new life.
Reinventing herself after twenty years of TV: this is what Olivia Adriaco succeeded in doing, ex-host revealed in the 90s on M6 where she hosted several musical programs, then propelled in the 2000s to the co-presentation of Video Gag, on TF1, alongside Bernard Montiel. Missing from the small screen for ten years, she now works as a landscape architect in the Basque Country. She comes back for TV-Leisure on his retraining.
“I never had much fun at Video Gag “
Télé-Loisirs: When did you start to think about after-TV?
Olivia Adriaco: After TV, for me, began with a move to Biarritz at the end of the 2000s. Lover of nature more than asphalt, I couldn’t stand Paris anymore. Video Gag, where I never had much fun, stopped slowly. It was a reality TV era. I had a feeling it was going to be complicated. Even though I continued to work for TV, it was a bit more episodic, and I longed for something else. It was nice to have lots of ideas, but you still had to be able to live from them!
How did you get the idea of devoting yourself to the world of gardens?
It came as a matter of course. I loved nature and plants, I had been interested in them for a long time. I was already writing about the garden as a journalist, in the written press. It allowed me to stay in the creative field, because before I started a career in TV, I came from music. I released records!
“I could only count on myself“
Have you resumed studies?
Yes. I resumed my studies by correspondence. Three years of training, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, to get there.
Did your TV years protect you from want?
I had to face certain events. I could only count on myself. I lived in a small apartment. Doing odd jobs is not easy when you are known and recognized. Fortunately, my savings allowed me to finance the training.
How is your business doing today?
I set up my company, Blossom Paysage, in 2017. I work and earn a living! I design gardens for individuals. I feel extremely serene, which I was no longer on television.
Do you see old acquaintances of TV again?
I continue to see my friend Bernard Montiel with great pleasure.