“I was a little blueberry, an original, an open book. A guy who let himself go and who didn’t see things going kodaks. The adjective that came up most often was that I was true,” confides Hugues Dubé, between two brush strokes.
The latter discussed with Information Co-ops while he was enjoying his few moments of leave at his residence in Quebec. Soon, he left for Nunavut where he worked as a miner, in mode “fly in, fly out”.
More than 20 years after his first visit to Loft Storyin 2003, and 15 years after his second participation in Loft Story 6: Revenge, in 2009, Hugues claims not to have changed. His lifestyle, shared between Quebec and the Nunavut mine, still allows him to express his casual side.
“I do not have rush in life. When I’m at home in the morning, there is no dial. I put on old rap from the 1990s, and I play basketball in my backyard. I don’t have any children, I’m the one kid from the street,” says the 44-year-old man.
Even today, viewers regularly recognize the former reality TV star and approach him without embarrassment. They frequently evoke the episode of the now legendary “ass tent”, which captured the imagination in 2003.
“If I get talked about Loft Story, it’s mostly “ass-tenting”. But that’s okay. Because we’ll admit it, it was hot in tabarouette. The world was just talking about it, it was crazy.”
— Hugues Dubé, bursting out laughing
Another era
The native of Saint-Honoré is also very proud of this memorable TV moment, of which he is at the origin. But he has no illusions: scenes like that of the “ass tent” will no longer exist on reality TV, according to him.
“Today, the world is a lot more soupy. It’s a lot more fragile. And at the same time, these are games, it’s normal that things play out a bit. Reality shows will never again be what they used to be. But there were no social networks either. Crime, I would be picked up solidly today!”, he says.
Often compared to a human laboratory, Loft Story offered less watered down content than more recent productions, thereby giving it the 13 and over restriction. The comments of Dr Pierre Mailloux, analyst during the Sunday galas, have often raised controversy. But despite everything, Hugues retains no bitterness from his time, both in season 1 and season 6.
“Me Loft Story, it’s a great adventure. It never harmed me. But if I had wanted to do TV or radio, I could have said that it would have harmed me for example,” says Hugues. He particularly remembers a passage to Fun Blacka comedy show hosted by Normand Brathwaite, where the reception from fellow guests was not very warm.
Today, Hugues Dubé takes advantage of his free time to travel and have fun, and says he has retained his adolescent heart. (Facebook)
“They work hard to get air time, that’s what they aspire to in life, they went to school. You arrive, you send a registration form with two stamps, and finally, six months later, you are in a loft which is seen by a million people on Sundays, in addition to the daily ones. That’s some pretty good airtime! So we were judged quite a bit too,” he shares bluntly.
However, Hugues would not close the door to a return to the small screen. His name has also circulated among the fans on a few occasions, in relation to the production of Big brother Celebrities, broadcast on Noovo. Some viewers have even launched a petition to demand his presence.
“Of course if they contacted me, I wouldn’t say no.” However, no approach has been made so far, he assures.
