He arrived early. And by taxi! This Saturday, May 4, 2024, Renaud has another meeting with the mayor – madam in this case. That of the 14th arrondissement of Paris, more precisely, where he was born, where he grew up and from which he never moved away. In his heart and in his head. Because for the third wedding of his life, Renaud Séchan, who married Cerise on this rainy morning, wanted to do things in a big way: 250 guests, a civil and religious wedding, then a big party in Yvelines.
Wearing sunglasses, a dark suit and a loose tie, Renaud is accompanied by Pierrot and Bloodi, his two assistants who have always supported and supported him in the darkest moments. But for this reunion with happiness, they could not not be there. Renaud rushes into the wedding hall under the watchful eye of all his friends: Dave, Hugues and Murielle Aufray, Vianney and his wife, Catherine, Laurent Baffie, Jean-Paul Rouve, Philippe Lellouche, Gilbert Rozon, Patrick Pelloux, Arthur Jugnot, Bénabar, Gauvain Sers, David McNeil, Raphaël Mezrahi and Christophe Alévêque. An appointment was made at 11:30 a.m., for the ceremony to begin at noon.
At the exit of the Port-Royal temple, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.
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For once, the star of the day is not the most angry of singers. In the applause, it was Christine, known as “Cerise”, who won hands down when she also got out of a taxi in her magnificent white dress, all smiles and surprised to see so many media covering her wedding. Her father is waiting for her at the top of the stairs to take her to her future husband. “Renaud, would you like to marry Christine here?” » says deputy mayor Hélène Mermberg, who is officiating this morning in place of Carine Petit. “He responded with a real yes, an exuberant yes,” she will say. And it is to “All You Need Is Love”, by the Beatles, that the couple leaves the room to applause. The bride and groom then chat for half an hour with each other. “I have never seen Renaud so happy,” one of his close friends confided to us. All his friends have seen how much Cerise does him good. »
The singer Bénabar accompanied by his wife, Stéphanie Nicolini.
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At 1:30 p.m., they slipped away through a door located on the side of the town hall. A taxi is waiting for them… to take them to the Protestant temple of Port-Royal, boulevard Arago, in the 13th arrondissement. Renaud, who was interested in Judaism for a time before the Covid epidemic, has always been a man of faith. He praises Protestantism, which does not condemn divorce, defines marriage as a blessing, unlike the Catholic Church which makes it a sacrament. And then Protestantism was the religion of his father, the adored Olivier Séchan. Renaud and Cerise called on Pastor Philipoussi to accompany them in the ceremony, which they wanted above all to be “light and festive”.
Actors Arthur Jugnot (center) and Jean-Paul Rouve (right).
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Here, it is the bride and groom who sign the register in front of their witnesses and the pastor, before being joined by the guests. For more than an hour, Renaud, very moved, and Cerise, smiling from the beginning to the end of the service, listened to the words of their pastor before leaving the temple to the sound of the “Ode to Joy” by Beethoven. “I preferred this religious ceremony to the one at the town hall,” smiles Dave, “it was much more joyful. »
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The singer Dave, leaving the town hall. This May 4, he celebrates his 80th birthday.
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A small booklet was given to the guests, with these words: “We thank you all, here present, our families, our witnesses, our friends, who accompany us every day of our lives, near and far and who you helped make us the people we have become. » “What happiness,” rejoices Hugues Aufray. Renaud is like my little brother. In addition, Cerise gets along very well with Murielle, my young wife. »
Hugues Aufray and his wife, Murielle Mégevand, come to congratulate the newlyweds. The couple had gotten ahead of themselves: last September, Renaud and Cerise attended their wedding.
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But barely does the crowd see the bride and groom – who leave last, as tradition dictates – when a convertible Beetle takes them to the third and final location of the day: the Fontenelles estate, near Montfort-l ‘Amaury. Almost all the guests followed the procession from Paris to Yvelines, from the singer’s musicians to Cerise’s family. Late in the night, Jean-Pierre Bucolo, Vianney, Gauvain Sers, Pierrot and Bloodi revisited “Laisse concret” in honor of the bride and groom. But everyone noticed the absence of two of Renaud’s loved ones: Romane, his second wife, from whom he has been divorced since 2011, on vacation in Greece, and Lolita, his eldest daughter.
Malone, 17 years old, Renaud’s youngest son. Her daughter, Lolita, born in 1980, did not wish to join the wedding
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Asked on social networks, the latter left three fairly clear messages: ” We are [mon père et moi] two individualized people, if one gets married, the other may have nothing to do with it […] and in this case not to participate. » But Malone, the son that Renaud had with Romane, was very present, like Dominique, Lolita’s mother. “The absence of Lolita is a stone in the shoe of her story with Cerise,” continues a friend. But she did attend her last concert at the Salle Pleyel, on December 21. All this is complicated for her, she is the same age as her father’s new wife…”, 43 years old.
All the friends standing, behind Renaud and Cerise, for the traditional wedding group photo.
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So here is Renaud married for the third time. Cerise was an extra in December 2016 on the set of the television show “Merci Renaud”. A lifelong fan of the singer, that day she wore red earrings in the shape of cherries, “unforgettable”, Renaud will tell “Parisien” in 2023. She contacts him again in 2022, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, in order to offer him a bandana shirt that she made. “It touched me, we discussed,” continued Renaud, in “Le Parisien”. I invited her for coffee at home, in Paris, then in Provence, then on vacation at Cap Ferret. »
The singer Gauvain Sers, launched by Renaud, with his partner, Clotilde.
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The couple appears for the first time in the streets of Paris in the fall of 2022, and those around Renaud then talk about how “she gave him a taste for life again”. She would even be at the origin of his desire to return to the stage. When the latter announces his tour “In my ropes”, no one puts a kopeck on his physical form and his vocal abilities.
The singer Vianney with his wife, the cellist Catherine Robert.
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On January 24, 2023, however, Renaud courageously returned to battle in front of an audience committed to his cause, even if his voice was not there. All under the tender and caring gaze of Cerise, who sets up her stand of jewelry and creations linked to the singer’s world in each room. Baby bibs made from bandanas, red cherry-shaped earrings (the famous ones) or even hair scrunchies. Brief, very quickly, Cerise found her place in Renaud’s worldhappily immersing himself in his public life as well as his private life.
His “girl” officially became his wife. After the civil ceremony at the 14th century town hall, head to the Protestant temple of Port-Royal.
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At the same time, Renaud acquired a house “of all colors” in Trentemoult, not far from Nantes, where Cerise was from. He moves away from his estate at L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and, above all, from his favorite bistro, Le Quai du Bouchon, which has become a place of wandering and perdition. “Since the end of his tour, Renaud has been bored,” estimates this old acquaintance of the singer. He thought he would no longer be able to sing, he no longer wanted to write, there was only Pierrot and Bloodi to help him live. Then the Philharmonie de Paris dedicated an exhibition to him. This plunged him into deep sadness: he became the helpless witness of his own decline in the face of his glorious past…It really took a toll on his morale. And Cerise arrived…” The rest now belongs to his legend of Phoenix, “still standing, still alive”.
Life in cherry red: both passionate and sweet.
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In mid-April, the former Fox paused his tour to prepare for the wedding. In a few days, he will fly to Canada, a country that has always adored him and where he is due to perform from May 14. Regardless of the criticism of his voice, or his haggard demeanor, Renaud is perked up, off to a new start. He found his audience, certainly, but above all he found a beating heart. Singing “Lost Heart” every evening, “for my lover, hidden in the room with her little lighter which she lights so that I can see her. Cerise and I are for life and beyond.”
From now on Cerise will no longer be his lover, but will indeed be Madame Séchan. Who reignited the flame of Renaud the author. “I am preparing a record for 2025, I am currently writing love songs”, he confided on February 1 to “La Nouvelle République”, “because it is love that pushes me”. His accomplices even jokingly suggested a title for this next record: “Le temps de Cerise”
