“I almost strangled him”: Benjamin Castaldi reveals his violent clash with Stéphane Bern in their debut

Before becoming one of the most popular presenters of the PAF thanks to Loft Story and the reality TV shows which marked the 2000s, Benjamin Castaldi had a much more turbulent start than one might believe.

It is in 1999 he made his debut on TF1, co-hosting Celebrities, a show dedicated to star news, alongside Stéphane Bern and Carole Rousseau. A pivotal period in his career, which allowed him to establish himself on the leading French channel, but which was obviously not always easy.

It is in the show La Piscine de Jordan de Luxe, broadcast in 2024, that the son of Jean-Pierre Castaldi chose to lift the veil on this erawith a frankness that belongs only to him. And the least we can say is that behind the scenes of Celebrities was far from being as smooth as the image sent on the air.

Electric backstage on the Celebrity set

By taking his place opposite Jordan de Luxe, Benjamin Castaldi did not seek to embellish the picture. The 56-year-old host bluntly admitted that the atmosphere on the Celebrities set was regularly tense, and that cohabitation with his partners did not always go smoothly.
“It was a little tense because there was a shitty atmosphere on the show and it wasn’t going very well. It was special”he confided, visibly still marked by the memory of this period.

The host, known for his sanguine character which he readily claims himself, describes a professional context under tension, where the strong personalities of each made cohabitation complicated. An atmosphere which, in his own words, did not really lend itself to serenity, and which would end up leading to a much more explosive episode.

“I almost strangled Stéphane Bern”, the clash that almost derailed everything

Benjamin Castaldi then releases the revelation that no one expected. “I almost strangled Stéphane Bernbut it was not with Carole Rousseau but with Valérie Bénaïm. He had pissed me off. It ended badly”he says bluntly. A brutal, colorful confidence, which illustrates the extent to which the tension between the two hosts had reached a point of no return during this specific episode of filming.

The detail of the presence of Valérie Bénaïm at that moment adds a layer of context to this clash, without Benjamin Castaldi expanding further on the exact circumstances of the dispute. In all cases, the host fully assumes his impulsive temperament, while wishing to specify an important nuance: to be sanguine, yes, but never mean.

The good news is that this friction from another era now belongs to the past. Benjamin Castaldi wanted to reassure: he and Stéphane Bern have since reconciled and today get along very well, despite past friction. Proof that even the most heated clashes can, over time, turn into a simple locker room anecdote.