Sitting at the table of a restaurant in the Old Port of Quebec, Gino Chouinard makes no secret of it: he has taken the time to rest since his very last broadcast, at the end of June.
Still inhabited by the wave of love that swept over him after his departure, he enjoys finding today “a form of freedom”, enjoying the little moments of everyday life – those that we experience in the morning or, at on the contrary, in the evening.
“There were things that I didn’t necessarily experience because I was always in work, concentration mode,” says Gino Chouinard, in an interview with Soleil.
Far from complaining about the two decades he dedicated to his daily television life, the fifty-year-old says he is always grateful for this experience… And perhaps even more so now, since the end of this great adventure.
The host has often repeated it since the announcement of his departure, two years before the end of his contract: the decision to leave Hello, hello! was not easy to take, but it was nevertheless carefully considered.
The writing of 3800 mornings was therefore not saving for Gino Chouinard. However, it allowed him to take a good step back.
“It forced me to think again about my professional career, on television, in this framework that is Hello, Hello!. It allowed me to relive good times, others less glorious, moments of intense stress, those which had an impact on the family,” he believes, convinced of “closing the loop” thanks to his book.
The underside of the profession
3800 mornings was written by four hands, with the author Nicolas Forget, but Gino Chouinard made sure to give his color to each passage. When reading the 240 pages, the work takes on the air of a conversation with the host.
In addition to diving behind the scenes of the show, Gino Chouinard opens up a little more personally. In particular, he reveals all the physical impacts caused to him by the stress and pressure at the helm. Hello, Hello!.
“When you make a job trippy, that you have a privilege that many people would like to have, that you can deal with subjects that interest you and what’s more for TV, these problems which arise gradually, you learn to live with them. You tolerate them because the reward is great. […] In my decision-making process, it was an element of reflection. There, my body sends me messages and it’s time to receive and decode them,” confides the man from Estrie.
In addition to sharing some anecdotes about “family Hello, Hello!», he did not hesitate to open up about the impact that the show had on his life as a couple with his partner Isabelle. He discusses, among other things, his marriage, the fertility issues that arose and his steps towards adoption.
Beyond the role of host, Gino Chouinard redraws the contours of his public persona by adding several elements from his private life.
Some may also be surprised to discover a little more about his businessman side. Because, at the time when he was at the helm of Hello, Hello! WeekendGino Chouinard owned an art gallery with his wife. A space where he exhibited already established artists, shining here and internationally.
“At one point I was between professional contracts. I had already made my entire business plan. I found premises, then I opened an art gallery which I operated for four years,” says the visual art enthusiast.
A leap into the void
Even if he has always maintained a special relationship with viewers, Gino Chouinard does not see his departure as a separation from the public.
Will the latter still be there in the future? Impossible to predict, but he wants it.
Serene with his decision to leave Hello, Hello! like a leap into the void, Gino Chouinard is not worried about the future. One thing is certain: he does not fear the shadow.
“I had enough light. I had quite a few! […] I’ll find other things. Maybe it will be in TV, radio, production, documentaries, business? I don’t yet know what the future holds for me,” he concludes, confident of having won, thanks to Hello, Hello!, “the ability to [s]’adapt to everything’.
