"I had to land soon, the C8 control tower made me take off again"

He had not shown a show on television since Pbadword on France 2 in 2016. Patrick Sabatier is back on the small screen with no less than two new appointments for the only month of January on
C8. This Wednesday, at 9 pm, he will welcome Cyril Hanouna for the premiere of We meet at Sabatier and on January 25, he will be in command of Friday truth 60 minutes chrono. Two programs
reminiscent of the 1980s viewers … And the host himself who, at age 67, tackles all this without much pressure, as he explains to 20 minutes.

Two programs, in prime-time, on C. The year 2019 starts well for you …

The adventure is exciting, but it takes time to install the programs and we have less and less time to do it. But hey, these shows are already a bit listed in the public mind because he will find We meet at Sabatier the scent ofWanted poster. Friday truth, 60 minutes chronoas the name suggests, recalls The game of truth. These are programs that have been flagship for several years [et qu’il a présentées dans les années 1980]. Although since television has changed, even if we do it the same way, I hope that these appointments seduce the public.

Find these concepts thirty years later, it's comfortable, it's weird or it puts pressure?

I do not have any pressure to do television. I tell myself that it is always a beautiful adventure. I'm never sure to succeed. You have to make the best show possible, with the means we are given, but it is useless to put pressure on us. It is there by the very fact that we present something, so no need to add. I always liked doing shows where people met, where there was emotion, surprises. There, I conceived We meet at Sabatier like an evening dedicated to someone – in this case Cyril Hanouna – with his friends of yesterday, testimonies of celebrities, anonymous people who are close to him. But that's not called Wanted poster because we added other things: a different rhythm, a way to make different varieties. Obviously, I'm not Cyril Hanouna, I'm not Thierry Ardisson. Franck Apietto, the general manager of C told me: "You are asked to do Sabatier and to be what you are today. When you are asked to be yourself, there is no need to put pressure on yourself.

How would you define what you are today?

The more we advance in age, the more tolerant and benevolent, the more we put things in their place and the more we are interested in others. There is a whole part of life where we are necessarily – and it is quite natural – turned towards ourselves, because we want to succeed. And at some point, life helping, white hair coming … I started doing television in 1975. Forty-three years later, I'm doing it for my pleasure, to share and transmit. I am very zen at the idea of ​​trying this new adventure.

Are you planning on doing television until you're not enjoying yourself or have you set a date to close the parenthesis?

I'll tell you what I say to my friends: I'm like a plane that was to land soon, control tower C told me to take off again, so I'm back, but I do not know the duration of the flight.

Neither will there be turbulence …

When we embrace this career, we know that we do a job like no other, that there will be ups and downs, successes and failures. Do not be surprised by the turbulence. There will be others. But to experience great excitement, we must accept less easy moments, it's part of the game of television.

Cyril Hanouna is the first guest of We meet at Sabatier. He has not been on the set for two minutes that he is already in tears. This is a good client for this show?

It was not me who made her cry. I simply handed her a message from her children that moved her to tears. Frankly, I did not expect that. If you look closely, I am moved for him, but I did not think we would begin the show in this way. I do not like the term "good customer". I understand what you mean, but we did everything to make Cyril happy that evening, with his friends from yesterday and today. And I did everything for people to say, about this guy they see every night on TV and they hear about it a lot: "I did not think he was like that." I would have succeeded if it helps to make my guests better known. I believe that we bet our bet to discover a different Cyril Hanouna.

Cyril Hanouna is also the producer of the show. He had a right to look at the content?

I told him that we had to play the game, that he did not want him to know, that otherwise it was not worth it. He says it himself: "This is the first time that I produce a program without knowing what's inside. He is the producer, but I am the artistic producer, that is to say that I make the show and put what there must be in it. To begin with, at first I imagined producing the show artistically and having it presented by someone else, and Cyril told me that it was out of the question for me not to show it.

The game of truth At the time, she had made headlines, particularly with Chantal Goya. In the age of social networks and bad buzz, a skewed word can have an even stronger soundboard. Can this deter people from participating in "Friday truth"?

Yes. But I think that my kindness helps them to accept. The show is offline, so there's no reason for it to go wrong, I'm not here for that. I agree with the questions, the comments, but not the insanities. It does not help. You have to keep a certain balance and I will be the guarantor.

Who will be the first guest?

It will be formalized only three days before the broadcast. Because it can change depending on the news and because we want to keep our programs secret until the last moment. I will ask C's press office not to disclose – as is usually done – the names of the guests three weeks before the broadcast.