This is the big surprise of the 2023 TV transfer window. Laurent Ruquier, departing from France 2 after more than twenty years on the air, announced his arrival on BFMTV with Le Parisien, this July 15, 2023. An unexpected transfer for the one who is close to Marc-Olivier Fogiel, ex-colleague of RTL who has become the general manager of the continuous news channel since 2019.
“As I know Marco well, we discussed it together, first in a friendly way,” he said in the pages of the daily. “He didn’t expect me to be interested in a slice on a news channel. He said to me: ‘You have to come to BFM’!”. However, the sexagenarian recognizes that this idea has been on his mind for some time. “A slice of news, it’s unexpected, but I had it in mind for a few seasons”, before adding: “It was an opportunity to bounce back differently. It happened quickly”.
In the wake of this announcement in the Ile-de-France daily, host and producer Laurent Ruquier shared this news with his 143,000 subscribers on Instagram. “Happy with this new challenge”, the leader of RTL’s Big Heads band does not hide his new ambitions. And, he now wants to dive into the heart of the news on channel number 15 of TNT.
“I am very happy to join BFMTV, the reference news channel which offers me the chance to return to what has always fascinated me: the news, whether political, sporting, cultural or societal”, he said in a press release relayed by the channel and on the social network. “This new challenge will be an opportunity for me to process and discuss information, both by giving way to the live but also by taking the time to reflect on events about which we sometimes tend to react too quickly without bring in the necessary nuances. What will his new show look like? What time will it air? Will Laurent Ruquier be alone or in a duo at the presentation of the program?
Host Laurent Ruquier will take his first steps as a presenter on BFMTV next October for the 2023/2024 season. As announced in the press release, he joins the editorial staff of the TNT news channel where he will present “a new meeting with Julie Hammett by his side, Monday to Thursday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. “. For now, the name of this new program remains unknown.
Invited this Sunday, July 16 in Week-end premiere, Laurent Ruquier revealed some information on the format of his program scheduled for early October 2023. “So it’s still a little early to say because we will be working all summer. “, he explains on the air. “You have to work, you have to think, recruit new voices and new faces”, believes the one who will be surrounded by debaters (as in We are not lying on France 2).
“I will try to do what I did at the time of ‘We are not lying’ when I had a political guest, guests who debated. When sometimes, we reacted live because it is true that ‘at that time, alas, there were tragic events that happened to us, we had to do live broadcasts the next day and even as a bonus with different political guests to react to the sometimes terrible news. exercise that I practiced and that I will continue to explore a little more at the start of the school year”. It will also be an opportunity for the former public service star to do “BFMTV plus Ruquier”, before adding to our colleagues: “I think BFM will take a step towards me and me towards BFM. I can not better summarize, I believe, the project”, according to remarks also relayed by Puremédias.
Since the announcement of his departure, cold with the management, of France 2, Laurent Ruquier seemed coveted by several media. Officiating in particular for the M6 / RTL group (and on Paris Première), many rumors have announced that the presenter of the Children of TV could have arrived on TF1, as claimed by Le Parisien this summer.
With the Ile-de-France daily, the former guest investigator of Mask Singer acknowledges having been approached by the first channel in Europe. “I met great people, including Ara Aprikian (headline program director, editor’s note). We had discussions for broadcasts. But also to be on LCI” he assures without having managed to find a agreement with the group. It is finally on another private channel that the TV and radio host will make his debut in a few months. Will the audience be there? Only the future will tell us.