Gad Elmaleh talks about Fatima, his second mother

Gad Elmaleh grew up in the economic capital. He fondly remembers his childhood love for his CE1 teacher, “for a basic reason, because she was blonde, and in Morocco, a blonde woman is a minority”. But one memory in particular marked him forever.

During a stay in Morocco, he wanted to see Fatima again. “A few years ago when I was in Morocco, I wanted to see the woman who was very present in my life and who also raised me. This woman’s name is Fatima,” he explained. He arranged to meet her at a chic hotel where he was staying. “There were a lot of people waiting for me, fans of the show who wanted to take photos,” he recalls. Fatima, dressed in a scarf and a djellaba, waited patiently. “She says nothing, she waits very dignifiedly […] and when I finish, I go sit down with her, and I tell her I’m sorry.”

To read: Gad Elmaleh: “I was born in Morocco, I accept it 1,000%”

Fatima, with great wisdom, replied: “It doesn’t matter. It reminded me of when you were a baby and I walked you through the streets of Casablanca in your stroller. Your eyes were so big and blue that everyone stopped and looked at your eyes. And I made people believe that you were my son.” An anecdote that deeply touched Gad Elmaleh. “She amazed me and I said to myself that what she saw was love, the pure side of it all, while I was in stay-at-home mode.”