On April 26, 2001, French television broadcast the first episode of “Loft Story” on the M6 channel. A true audiovisual UFO inspired by the Dutch model and its show “Big Brother”, the brilliant idea was born in the mind of Alexia Laroche-Joubert. At that time, the Parisian was 32 years old, was going to be a mother for the first time and was the head of the editorial staff of the celebrity magazine “Exclusif” on TF1.
Audiences for this first season soared to more than 5 million viewers, “Loft Story” became cult, inspiring countless reality TV shows in the following decades. Loana, Jean-Edouard, Steevy and even Laure, are names that remain engraved in the memories of television in the 2000s.
Loana Petrucciani, 23 years old, one of the winners of the show “Loft Story” on July 6, 2001 in Paris.
ABACA / © Khayat Nicolas
On October 18, the “Cult” series will go behind the scenes of the birth of the Loft. Directed by Matthieu Rumani and Nicolas Slomka, this six-episode project broadcast on “Prime Video” focused on the character of Alexia Laroche-Joubert and the birth of her project. Questioned about this release by Paris Match, the CEO of “Banijay France” – a production company which will also produce “Cult” – looked back on this time, her career and her love life.
“At the time, my life was boring. »
If the series was largely inspired by the events of 2001 around the arrival of the Loft, it does not exactly reflect the reality of the character of Alexia Laroche-Joubert, played by the actress Anaïde Rozam. An observation that the fifty-something makes without blushing: “It’s not a biopic. And fortunately, because at the time, my life was boring. I was married, I was going to have a child, everything was calm. »
Alexia Laroche-Joubert upon her arrival at “Endemol” in 2004.
© S. Micke
After the release of the first season, given the obvious success, a second was immediately signed with “Endemol”. Alexia Laroche-Joubert, “born to eat the world” was caught up in her daily life in 2003 when her companion Yan-Philippe Blanc (CEO of Warner Music France) died in a motorcycle accident. A widow and single mother, the go-getter refused to give up. Three days after the tragedy, she returned to work.
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Several of his partners criticized him for this pugnacity: “I had guys who thought I wasn’t present enough. But, you know, you can’t have friends, play sports, work, take care of your children and have good sex. At any given time, out of the five, there are two that need to be let go. It’s up to you to choose which ones. »
Stability with Mathieu Grinberg
Mother of two children, Solveig, born in 2002 from her relationship with Yan-Philippe Blanc and Isaure, born in 2007 from her marriage with Guillaume Multrier (co-founder of “Webedia” and the website “Pure People”), Alexia Laroche-Joubert has never hidden that she puts priority on her work. Through this interview for Paris Match, she admits to having perhaps not been an ideal mother.
Wedding of Alexia Laroche-Joubert and Guillaume Multrier at the town hall of the 7th arrondissement of Paris, July 7, 2007.
AGENCE / BESTIMAGE / © AGENCE / BESTIMAGE
After a divorce in 2010, a second marriage in 2015 with the urological surgeon Alexis Lesueur (ending in a divorce six years later), the boss of “Banijay” finally found her balance alongside Mathieu Grinberg, an entrepreneur in the hotel industry.
“He works six months abroad, six months at home. When he is there, he is the one who takes care of the family environment. The really complicated period of my life was when I was a widow and the only point of contact for my eldest. Then when I divorced when my second was 1 year old. »
Alexia Laroche-Joubert and her companion Mathieu Grinberg – Celebrities at the French Open tennis village at Roland Garros 2024 in Paris on June 7, 2024.
JACOVIDES-MOREAU / BESTIMAGE / © JACOVIDES-MOREAU / BESTIMAGE
