José is undeniably one of the leading candidates of this 13th season of Best pastry chefon M6. The dean from Brittany has often been able to make the difference in the competition thanks to great technique and remarkable know-how. He finds himself in the golden square with three other pastry chefs (Timothy, Benjamin and Tsiory) and will try this Thursday evening to win his place for the grand final. From the start of his adventure, he chose to talk about his four cancers and showed his resilience. A few days before the outcome, he confides in Tele-Leisure on this adventure he made for his son Maël.
“It wasn’t to complain” : José (The Best Pastry Chef 2024) reveals why he chose to talk about his four cancers
Tele-Leisure : Why did you participate in the Best pastry chef ?
José : My son told me: “Dad, if you don’t sign up, I’ll sign you up.” It was some kind of threat (he laughs)then after a while I told myself that I was going to take the step anyway. I signed up with no confidence that I would be accepted and this is where it led me. I watched an episode here and there, but when my son threatened to sign up, I told myself that I still had to watch a little. I watched season 12 in its entirety and that’s when I decided to sign up.
Were you apprehensive at first, knowing that you were the dean this year?
I absolutely did not have this apprehension. Dean, I may be physically and in age, but in my head, I remained a big child!
You quickly talk about your cancers. Wasn’t it too difficult for you to talk about it?
No, because it’s a fact, I’ve had four cancers. Talking about it can also open eyes to the disease and raise awareness among others about screening. That was just why I was talking about it, not to complain, far from it. I never complained. The proof, I am here today because I fought against them and I defeated them. Maybe we talked about it a little too much, but it’s TV that wants that.
“Otherwise we lose control” : José reveals what he needed on the set of Best pastry chef 2024
You are often neck and neck with Timothée… What do you think of the youngest of the season?For his age, he is very strong. When I was 16, I didn’t even know what it was to bake or make any kind of dough. But I don’t have a competitive spirit. I played the game like everyone else, I did what I knew how to do best on the required tests and I managed to be at the same level as Timothée, or vice versa. It was more in the spirit of challenging myself and surpassing myself than competing with someone else.
Did you often talk to your wife on the phone? How did you experience the distance from your family?
I had to be in contact with them because more than two months is a long time. Every two days we called each other and we sent each other messages every day to talk about the show, the house, how I was feeling… We have to, otherwise we lose control. I saw them over two long weekends in Maywe were able to return twice. Afterwards it was either video or telephone.
As you approach the final, what do you remember from this adventure?
I don’t know if I can draw a conclusion because I have no pretensions to a future as a pastry chef. It was a great experience, if I had to do it again, I would do it again with a few corrections. I will try to take the journalists’ questions a little more personally because it was too disturbing and it was confusing my time management issues. In any case, I learned to manage time better. But without pretension, I can’t say that I learned many things, I learned some, but The Best Pastry Chef Above all, it allowed me to manage my time much more easily.
