Maïté left on the night of December 20 to 21. The iconic Landes rugby lover and gourmet died at the age of 86. On BFMTV, the mayor of her village modestly lifted the veil on the illness that took her away.
Maïté was, above all, a warm voice that smacked of the South West, a laugh that was instantly recognizable and a passion for good food. Iconic figure of television from the 80s and 90s, the one who was born Marie-Thérèse Ordonez had revolutionized the world of cooking shows thanks to her appearances in The Musketeers' Kitchen from 1983 to 1997 on FR3Then At the table from 1997 to 1999. His enthusiasm, his joie de vivre, his outspokenness had inspired many comedians, and some of his recipes (yes, eel) and his techniques will remain forever, for good or for bad, in the memory of the French.
Maïté, aged 86 and who had long since deserted television and radio sets, died on the night of Friday December 20 to Saturday December 21 at the age of 86announced News Landes this weekend. The host had experienced a series of tragedies over the past ten years which had weakened her, including the liquidation of her restaurant, the death of her beloved son, Serge, and the death of her husband in 2020.
A disease”that we only know too well”
If the public may have missed the warm cook, she had decided in the early 2000s to return to the comfort of anonymity, as her granddaughter Camille explained in 2019 in the columns of Current Woman. “She is doing well, she is enjoying her retirement and her family. She no longer wants to answer interviews or do television, it’s no longer her thing,” explained the former candidate of Top chef who revealed that Maïté had returned to live in her native village of Rion-des-Landes.
In 2023, News Landes who had received news of the unforgettable cordon bleu had revealed that Maïté was“suffering from a neurodegenerative disease” and that she now lived “in EHPAD”without giving further details. It was finally the village mayor Laurent Civel, who ended up discreetly mentioning Maïté's terrible illness on BFMTV. A disease “that we only know too well, and which takes away immediate memories” he declared. The words of this person close to the cook therefore leave little room for doubt. It would be Alzheimer's disease which led to the decline and then the disappearance of the unforgettable Landaise. Sadness.
