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FIGARO LIVE – The host let go of the controls of her successful show on auctions to take over the 4-6 p.m. slot on Europe 1. Guest of “Buzz TV”, she goes behind the scenes of this surprise transfer.
THE TV BUZZ. – Since August 28, you have presented “Sophie & les amis” on Europe 1, between 4 and 6 p.m. Is the name a tribute to the legendary show “Salut les amis”, at the time broadcast on Europe number one?
Sophie DAVANT. – Absolutely. In our credits, there are a few small allusions. It’s a live show that allows me to reconnect with my first loves and what I did in particular in “C’est au program” on France 2. It’s a game where you learn a lot, while enjoying yourself. amusing. I am surrounded by accomplices and we receive listeners by telephone.
You are in head-on competition with “Les Grosses Têtes” which is broadcast on RTL and captivates almost 2 million listeners daily. Are you confident you can catch up with them?
I am clear-minded, to catch up with this brand which has existed for forty years, it will take years. Radio is a usual medium, it doesn’t have the same reflexes as on TV. I understood that it takes time for a show to take hold.
To present this show, you chose to stop “Affaire concluded” on France 2. Were the two shows really incompatible?
I made a very difficult decision. I was not at all tired of presenting this program. It was incompatible because the shows aired at the same time. The bosses of France 2 were really lovely to me. I’m sorry for doing this to them. Besides, Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez (director of programs at France Télévisions, Editor’s note.) took a while to respond and wondered if he was not going to authorize me to do both. We thought about other time slots and, ultimately, I told myself that I was leaving “Affaire concluded” at the height of its success and that I had perhaps explored what I could bring to it. And I couldn’t resist the desire for Europe 1. I spent the summer wondering if I had made the right decision.
Have you been offered another show like “Children of TV” or “Everybody wants to take their place” where the presenter positions were vacant?
“Children of TV” would have pleased me. I would have felt legitimate there. But hey, they thought about something else. And then, succeeding Laurent Ruquier, being opposite him on the radio… It was a lot. I really like Laurent too. It’s terrible for me to be at the same time, in front of him.
“William Leymergie has nothing to do with my arrival on Europe 1”
Sophie Davant on the set of “Buzz TV”
How do you find Julia Vignali in “Affair concluded”?
I didn’t know her, I met her during the handover (broadcast during its premiere). I found that she was very friendly and showed sorority towards my background and my seniority. She has this desire not to establish rivalries. It took over from other shows, such as “Les Maternelles”, “Le Meilleur Pâtissier”. She is a sunny and smiling girl, she has all the ets to succeed in this show. Afterwards, quite honestly, watching “Affair concluded” is very difficult and painful for me. Like when “It’s on the Program” ended, I had trouble watching the morning shows. I am very emotional.
You work on the same station as your former producer William Leymergie . What should you say to those who might see favoritism in your arrival at the station?
This question allows me to correct certain things. They say everywhere in the press that it is thanks to him that I arrived on Europe 1. This is not true at all. Constance Benqué (president of Lagardère News) and Donat Vidal-Revel (general director of Europe 1) contacted me. William has nothing to do with it. Now, I admit that it’s quite funny that we meet again. It reminds me of old memories from my youth when he produced “C’est au program” and presented “Télématin”, broadcast just before.
Next October 5, you go out What a joy to grow old! (Solar editions). At 60, the page of time really doesn’t scare you?
It’s lucky to still be alive at this age. I experienced a tragedy at the age of 20 when I lost my mother who was 44 years old. She was magnificent, she was a cell biology researcher. Everything I have experienced since her departure, I have experienced for her too, for two. So I wanted to say: let’s not suffer our age.