“I am very happy. It is an honor.“, says the journalist who will be back from paternity leave next week. He will resume presenting the weekend news, will do some replacements and will present the magazine at the end of October, beginning of November 2030. For the presentation of the evening news, we will have to wait until mid-November. Laurent Mathieu is looking forward to it. “This is an important role. I want to do it well, both for the viewer and for the editorial staff. Our role as presenters is above all to highlight the reports produced by the journalists and to write so that the viewers understand the context. I will do everything to live up to this new position.“
Since when did you know that you were going to succeed François de Brigode?
“Very little time. I learned of his departure almost like everyone else, Thursday evening a few minutes before his announcement. I was really not in on the secret. Things were finalized this weekend.“
You already presented the weekend news on La Une. What will this new role actually change?
“From an editorial point of view, we will be more in hot news because everything happens during the week. On weekends, we are more on “magazine” subjects, cold as they say in journalistic jargon. During the week, there is more reactivity, more live broadcasts. For someone who is passionate about news and live broadcasts, it’s great. Internally, it will also change because I will be working with different news structures at RTBF, all the executives, the cell heads, the editorial heads, etc. I am not here to change the editorial line of the RTBF news. I will ensure that the news is, as it has always been, rigorous and accessible to everyone.”
Have you ever been able to discuss this with François de Brigode?
“We haven’t seen each other since the announcement but we get along well, we are friends in life, we share the same passions. He sent me a little text message to congratulate me and we said we would celebrate with a drink!“
Like him, you are from Charleroi. Are you proud to see that a presenter from Charleroi is once again at the helm of RTBF’s biggest news show?
“I have always been very proud to be from Charleroi. I like to say that I come from Charleroi. Those are my roots. All my friends come from there. I love spending evenings at the Sporting and watching the Zebras play. But, I will obviously not be regionalist on the news. I will not talk about Charleroi any more than I will about any other region.“
You will now cook the politicians in Thursday Prime. A new exercise that you like?
“I enjoy talking about politics because I am passionate about it and on weekends there is less going on about it. Thanks to Thursday PrimeI will be able to talk about hot news.”
Has presenting the news always been a dream of yours?
“Not at all! At first, I was more interested in radio and cultural matters. It was in 2009, when I did my internship at the RTBF news that I caught this virus of information, adrenaline and news. I do a lot of reporting, especially for Featured Questions. Then, I went to the casting for the JT in 2016 and I was accepted. I am very happy to have taken that train.“
You welcomed your first child last July. How will your life as a presenter of the 7:30 p.m. news on weekdays combine with that of a young father?
“That’s the big question! (laughs) My partner, Valentine Jongen, is a musicologist and is starting work again in November at the morning show of La Première. She will therefore have to get up very early and we have not yet found a nursery to accommodate our daughter. Many organizational questions therefore arise at the moment.“
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