France Télévision has announced the return of the legendary Intervilles during the summer of 2025, but host Nagui, defender of the animal cause, does not want the presence of cows. Mayors of the Landes suddenly declined the show. In Hérault and Gard, elected officials like DJ Corti defend the presence of little cows, which they consider essential to the show.
The return of the legendary show Intervilles, which sees two municipalities compete with games, was announced in September by France Télévision, 63 years after its creation and 344 shows on the clock.
Four new meetings are scheduled for the summer of 2025. But, already, the controversy is growing on the question of the presence or not of cows in the show where the challenges are multiplying around the animal. Because the expected presenter, Nagui, a great defender of animals, does not want to hear about it.
Nagui: “There will be no cows. I defend the animal cause”
“If you see me in Intervilles, there will be no cows. Yes, I defend the animal cause”already indicated, to Midi Libre, the host, in November 2023. However, two towns in the Landes, Dax and Mont-de-Marsan, approached by the production, have just indicated that they would not participate in the games without a cow . And the bleeding risks being even greater.
“Intervilles without cows is like a football match without the ball, illustrates Vincent Ribera, who manages the programming of the arenas of Agde, Palavas or Grau-du-Roi. When in summer tourists come to see a swimming bull and they ask us what it is, we tell them it's like Intervilles, they identify young people playing with cows.
They bring originality, very few games are played with a non-domestic animal, this is the basis of Intervilles. So we have to call it games without borders.”
“Guy Lux must be rolling over in his grave”
The Gard DJ, actor, presenter Philippe Corti is up in arms against this announcement. He participated in the famous show, where he did the musical design, with Nathalie Simon, Julien Lepers or, at an earlier time, with Patrice Lafont and a certain… Nagui. Then there were the animals.
“The great Parisian minds find it too popular and what's more, there's a Southern accent! It's a popular Intervilles nugget, what are we going to serve? A half-cold, sanitized platter without cowhide? Guy Lux must turn around in his grave!” he laments.
Corti: “Nagui proposed to me, I said no. He’s woke”
Corti was nevertheless approached to return to service, he assures: “Nagui asked me if I would like to come back if he did Intervilles. No, without a cow, that's no. Otherwise we would have to do the swimming Olympics without the water in the pool, on the concrete! is right-thinking, Nagui is woke.”
Like many, he contests all animal cruelty, “the Landes cow is wild, playful, she has fun and it is typical of a region, these species will disappear due to the dint of standards!”
The popular success of bullfighting events sometimes remains strong, as Stéphane Roussille confirms. In September he produced Intervill's, in the Lunel arenas, based on games with little cows and is already planning two new editions.
“There were 4,000 people, we had to refuse people… In our country, a bull's territory, it's not possible… And then Intervilles communicates with a bull's head, what are they going to put: Nagui's head?”
“We have never harmed a cow”
Among elected officials, same story. Nîmes had received a proposal: “we responded negatively, it’s the bullfighting culture, we’re not going to let that be imposed on us” says Frédéric Pastor, elected to the festivities.
“We had been approached, but without a cow it’s not good, young people have fun, we love animals, it’s not a problem” estimates Christian Jeanjean, mayor of Palavas who has received at least four Intervilles in the past, “and we’ve never harmed a cow.”
Robert Crauste, mayor of Grau-du-Roi, also assures us: “All stakeholders, breeders, organizers and elected officials are mobilized to ensure animal safety and well-being, we are attentive and refuse anything that would be dictated by a speciesist approach.”
