Léa Salamé and Raphaël Glucksmann, the romance that almost didn’t see the light of day

“Their story is a Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn film,” assures Michel Hazanivicius. For almost a decade, Léa Salamé and Raphaël Glucksmann have been in perfect love. Regulars on television sets, the presenter of “What an era!” and the head of the PS-Place Publique list in the European elections, have nevertheless chosen to live their story in the shadow of the spotlight. Which doesn’t stop them from slipping in a few words of praise for each other during certain interviews. In May 2023, Léa Salamé thus evokes, in the program “Libre à Vous” of the Figaro the benefits of this romance.

“Throw down the weapons”

“He taught me that everything was not just a balance of power,” she declared then. I thought that life was a constant battle of power and that you either win or you lose. You either go forward or you go back, and actually, no.” The host assures her: her companion also taught her how to “put down her arms”. “He taught me serenity,” she continues. Accepting being what I was. Break a little this kind of mega armor that I had built for myself. He made things worse thanks to love.”

Read also“I like that she doesn’t encroach on my space”: Raphaël Glucksmann talks about his relationship with Léa Salamé

For his part, Raphaël Glucksmann praises in Paris Match the frankness of the one who shares his life. “She can absolutely say that I was bad, like a journalist judging a media performance,” explains the politician. “You speak too slowly, you use too complicated words…”, yes.” The candidate, who does not hide his admiration for his partner, nevertheless wants to draw a clear border between professional and private lives. “We try to compartmentalize,” he explains. I like that she doesn’t encroach on my space and I don’t encroach on hers. She has a great career, and from the moment we cross these borders, it would jeopardize our trajectories.

Days of “chaos”

Their mantra? “Don’t expose yourself and respect each other’s space.” “These are two destinies, not a merger,” assures the MEP. Two destinies that could never have intertwined. In 2015, Raphaël Glucksmann refused on several occasions to participate in a special issue of “On n’est pas couchés” – a program in which Léa Salamé was then officiating -, dedicated to the attacks of November 13. The writer is going through a dark period, marked by the mourning of his father André, who died on November 9, 2015. “Those were days of absolute chaos,” he remembers on the set of “Salut les Terriens” three years later. late, in November 2018.

The essayist nevertheless ends up agreeing to come to Laurent Ruquier’s set. And this, on the advice of his mother. “She told me: ‘Go ahead, it’s important to talk at the moment’,” relates the writer. Raphaël Glucksmann then meets the woman who will become his companion. An episode on which Léa Salamé returns in November 2020, in “We are almost live”. “There were lots of artists, lots of politicians, they just came to express their sadness and it’s one of the most beautiful moments of “We’re not in bed”, she says to Laurent Ruquier. It’s true that that day, I met Raphaël by chance, five years ago to the day. It’s true that thanks to you Laurent, I met my lover. You are Cupid.”

A meeting that Léa Salamé describes as “obvious” in the columns of Marie-France. The only downside: at the time, the journalist was in a relationship with the writer Olivier Guez. The celebrity press was quick to reveal his new relationship, including Here is published the first photos in January 2016. We see Raphaël Glucksmann putting an arm around the shoulders of the presenter. Images that cause a real earthquake in their respective lives. “My adultery was revealed in the press,” declares Léa Salamé on RTL, in September 2023. I was with Olivier and I had kissed another man who was Raphaël. I was paparazzed.”

The journalist did not immediately become aware of this headline. “We recorded the show on Thursday evening, and the issue of the magazine came out on Thursday evening,” she continued. Everyone knew it in production. Producer Catherine Barma said: “You don’t tell him anything because there is the show to record!” After a few hours of recording, I asked for my cell phone and there I discovered the photos.” Before adding: “I spent the show giggling stupidly while texting the new partner, the old one, and my lawyer. I laugh about it today because everything has calmed down, but it has ruined my personal life!”

Red carpet

From then on, the couple, who welcomed a son, Gabriel, on March 12, 2017, were discreet to say the least. He was just immortalized on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival the same year. He then attends the screening of Formidable, signed Michel Hazanavicius. These photos will remain the only official images of the couple. “The only public photo of us was taken in Cannes in 2017 when we went to see Michel’s film,” relates Raphaël Glucksmann in Paris Match. I didn’t have a tuxedo, Michel lent me his… Since then, everyone has used this image to say: “Look, it’s the star system that’s on stage!”

And the candidate asserts: “Now, this is my little conservative side, there is a form of distancing among the politicians of the past that I like. You have to relearn not to stage your private life.” An intimacy that Léa Salamé and her companion fiercely protect. When columnist Philippe Caverivière jokes about Raphaël Glucksmann, in April 2022, in “We are live”, Léa Salamé takes it up, nevertheless amused: “We said above all no private life.” The one who also chose not to invite a political figure into her television show France Inter during the European elections, intends to avoid controversies linked to his love life.

“I don’t want to make it a problem,” she confides in “C à Vous”. I think that listeners and viewers have known me for quite some time, they know that maybe (with Raphaël Glucksmann, Editor’s note) we don’t think the same, he’s him, I’m me. And originally you know, I didn’t go out with a politician, she says. When I meet Raphaël he is an essayist, an editorialist, a writer, a whistleblower, he is not a politician. Maybe if it had been political I wouldn’t have gone! I’m kidding, love you know, it falls on you that’s how it is, it’s the strongest and there’s no discussion to be had.

With family

Despite their discretion, Léa Salamé sometimes posts photos of her companion on her Instagram account. In May 2020, she notably shared a photo of Raphaël Glucksmann on a bike ride in the capital, wearing sunglasses and wearing a hoodie, jeans, a backpack and Stan Smith . “Dirty bobo”, jokes the journalist in the caption of the publication. On Instagram, she also shares rare photos of their family. In private, she comes to terms with her new role as mother-in-law. In 2011, Raphaël Glucksmann welcomed a son, Alexandre, from his marriage to Eka Zgouladze, a Georgian politician.

“The mother-in-law relationship is a very special, very interesting and very enriching relationship,” says Léa Salamé in “Libre à Vous”. It was a construction with my stepson, it’s not immediate. We tame each other, we learn, we teach each other. And then, love comes in and grows.” The quartet is now a united family. The journalist and the essayist form, for their part, a close-knit couple. “Habit and boredom are the two enemies of couples, right? assures Léa Salamé. Making your relationship last requires work. We must strive to preserve it despite the arrival of children and professional ambitions.” Mission accomplished – and for almost a decade.