For MC Gilles, these were not farewells that Paul Arcand offered to his loyal audience on Friday June 14, to his last edition of Since you have to get upat 98.5, but only a “goodbye”.
The collaborator of the last 19 years of the “king of the airwaves” is even amused to note to what extent “Monsieur Paul”, as he calls him with affection – evoking the memory of the late columnist Louise Cousineau, who thus baptized Paul Arcand in the past when she chatted on television with him on his show – cherishes a thousand and one other projects for the coming months.
“Everyone talks about retirement, but that’s not knowing Paul well! Paul is going to do all sorts of things. It’s a workaholic. I’ve even quibbled with him before, because I find it very funny that he still gets up at 5 a.m. to do his press review, which will be available at 6 a.m. I find it comical! I would have taken one break!”
“But, it’s him. He returns to his loves. He loves making documentaries, there are a lot of things that fascinate him. He’s going to do a million projects,” mentioned Dave-Éric Ouellet, his real name, at Hollywood PQ, on the red carpet preceding the premiere of the musical play Lili St-Cyrlast Thursday, at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (TNM).
Among these “millions of projects”, Paul Arcand will write a weekly column for the daily newspaper La Presse. As MC Gilles indicated, the 64-year-old communicator will also continue to carry out his daily commented press review, in podcast format, on the La Presse and Cogeco Média platforms. In the fall, we will also discover his documentary series dedicated to his friend Claude Poirier, on the Témoin channel of the TVA Group (formerly Moi et Cie).
Disappointed listener
MC Gilles was not present at the final meeting of Since you have to get up, an understandable absence due to his hasty departure from 98.5 and his breach of contract in the circumstances we know. He was therefore unable to add his voice to the chorus of compliments that poured out live for the most respected radio host in Montreal.
However, the colorful columnist maintains that he has “spoken often” with Paul Arcand since “the events” of April.
“It’s one of the things that pains me. But, I told Everybody talks about itand I said to him too: When you’ve been working with someone for 20 years, it would have been the fun to live the last two months. But, as Paul told me: This is not the end. It’s just a continuation.»
“It’s not so much the friend of Paul who finds it hard, that the listener from Paul, added MC Gilles with a laugh. Because radio is a usual medium. I’m going to find it hard to get up in the morning and not hear it. But there are others, positions!”
