Guy A. Lepage will return to his position next fall for Season 21 of Everyone is talking about it.
The presenter confirmed this on Wednesday on the sidelines of the press screening of the show's 500th episode, the only one recorded – on January 15 – since the team introduced live broadcasts during the pandemic.
GUILLAUME PICARD / QMI AGENCE
In a roundtable, Guy A. Lepage explained that he renews his mandate from year to year and that he is always driven by the same passion from the moment he arrives on his set.
“Do we have the taste, do we continue, do we have breath?” These are the questions the 63-year-old asks himself every time he signs for another year. As long as the audience, as long as the broadcaster and as long as the show's creators are there, the adventure can continue, he added.
But could the show survive the possible departure of Guy A. Lepage, i.e. with a new host? “We are in seduction mode every year,” said the first acting director of cultural, variety and social programs, Manon Beaudoin, without giving further details.
Guy A. Lepage, who has interviewed 4,500 people since September 2004, pointed out that despite the decline in ratings in recent weeks – according to unconfirmed figures from Numeris, the show had around 700,000 viewers at last count – TLMEP is still primarily with his Audience resonates when we add delayed listening.
“The same thing has been happening in winter for several years because it is always really good in autumn. There's the Super Bowl, suddenly there's the Oscars and there's a Quebecer who's nominated. And you can watch “Everybody talks about it” in delay format,” said Guy A. Lepage.
Producer Guillaume Lspérance, who directed the show from the beginning, recalls that while the show remained on the public broadcaster's schedule, other broadcasters made dozens of other suggestions.
Producer Guillaume Lspérance, editor-in-chief Manuelle Légaré, presenter Guy A. Lepage, script editor André Ducharme and director Manon Brisebois on the set of “Everyone is talking about it” on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, on the sidelines of the press screening of the 500th episode of the program, which will air on next Sunday, March 10th, at 8 p.m. on ICI Télé. GUILLAUME PICARD / QMI AGENCE
“Nothing changes for us, they are all complementary shows. Whether it's a sports show or a Star Académie final, we do the show as if we were alone, we do the show we want to do,” said Guy A. Lepage, who confirms that his show is less rough than it is too Beginning – Remember the guest Raël – because “society is gentler”.
For her part, director Manon Brisebois – “Manon lasts on the piton” – praised the “discipline” of Guy A. Lepage, with whom she has worked since RBO.
On the set of the 500th episode, which is full of archive images and shows, among other things, the evolution of Guy A. Lepage's hair, we find Thierry Ardisson, the presenter of the original formula in France, as well as Janette Bertrand. Véronique Cloutier, Chantal Hébert – who was there most often with 18 times – Dany Laferrière, Pauline Marois, Richard Martineau, Fred Pellerin, Stéphane Rousseau and Justin Trudeau, to name just a few guests.
And Dany Turcotte, making a remarkable return as the King's Jester, is in particularly fine form. It's an appointment on Sunday, March 10, at 8 p.m., on ICI Télé.