Le Blond, Coco, Chouchou… In his 30-year career, his characters have made him one of the most famous and applauded comedians of his generation. Gad Elmaleh returned to the roads of France with his 7th one-man show, Himselfa tour which comes after the success of his film Stay a littlewhere the 53-year-old actor-director discusses his conversion to the Catholic religion. A need for introspection for the stand-upper, whose private life – his two sons, his past relationship with Charlotte Casiraghi – fascinates his audience as much as his shows. The opportunity to give an interview to the podcast Counter-addictionspublished Thursday January 2, 2025, in which a major chapter in his history is discussed: the total cessation of alcohol, a radical decision that he took more than three years ago during a evening in Lourdes, from where he produced the musical Bernadette of Lourdes.
Gad Elmaleh got help to say goodbye to his demons
By his own admission, the move to action, his desire to put an end to alcohol once and for all, took place in total sobriety and not the day after a drunk.. “The day I quit, August 21, 2021, I am in a Thai restaurant, in Lourdes, with my friend Nora from Toulouse. We talk, she comes to dinner with me. […] I love going to Lourdes, it’s super spiritual. There’s a restaurant that I love there. I order a glass of wine and I know it’s the last one of my life! Or just for today…”he explained at length to Rose, in his show Counter-addictions. This glass, Gad Elmaleh “the wood[t] but don’t savor it either.” “I don’t talk to him about it [de son besoin d’arrêter l’alcool, ndlr]. […] I’m not taking another one. It was like that… Why? I don’t know…”, he added. To get help in his sobriety, this father of two children – Noé (23 years old) and Raphaël (10 years old) – called on “a sponsor”, although he “don’t like” use this word. “He’s a kind of coach who knows the program, who helps you. A godfather”he further developed.
Gad Elmaleh and alcohol: “It was too much…”
It is in particular thanks to this professional whom he has known for a long time that Gad Elmaleh was able to move away from wine, beer and other glasses of champagne. Before this famous August 21, 2021, the comedian had tried several times, sometimes for several months, to do without drinking. Because his social consumption could have become problematic, he who drank in all circumstances, to “anaesthetize” pain or lack of joy in one’s life. “I was happy, I drank; I was unhappy, I drank; I gave a good show, I drank; a bad show, I drank… It was too much”he had already admitted to the Sunday newspaperthe 28th of 2022.
