“It would be a scandal today”: Christophe Willem opens up about the homophobia he suffered after “Nouvelle Star”

On June 8, 2026, it will be 20 years since Christophe Willem won the fourth season of the show New Star against Miss Dominique, a year before Julien Doré’s coronation. Since then, the singer has established himself as one of the references of French pop, with titles such as Jacques said, Starlite or even Double Iwritten by Zazie.

Back with a new single titled Systaimewhose clip was posted online on May 22, 2026 and prelude to a new album expected in the fall, the one who took the stage of the Zénith in Paris alongside Theodora on March 31, 2026 returned to the homophobia of which he believes he was a victim upon leaving of New Star.

Christophe Willem felt reduced to his sexuality

In a video interview given to the media Her Story and posted online on June 3, 2026, Christophe Willem returned to the questions surrounding his sexuality that he received just after winning New Star. “When you have been defined throughout your childhood from the outside with labels that are not the right ones, you don’t want to be given a label that isn’t whole“, he began.

And to continue: “As soon as I left New Starthe first question I received was: ‘So, are you gay?’ If I were asked these questions today, it would be a scandal“. The singer did not appreciate being reduced solely through the prism of sexuality.

“There is a bit of a gritty side to these questions. We don’t talk about love between two people, we talk about sexuality. Obviously, this kind of slippage towards something that I find animal completely shifts the primary subject which is to fall in love with someone.” And to conclude:  “I always said: ‘It could be a girl or a boy, I don’t care‘”.

A return to the forefront after a necessary break

Après Panoramahis last studio album released in 2022, and a series of concerts in the following months, Christophe Willem had somewhat disappeared from the radar. Guest on the set of Télématin On June 3, 2026, the singer confided that he had taken a break to breathe better.

“I needed to live between the two. Between one album and another, it’s important to meet new people, to travel when you can have that chance, to find inspiration.”

And to continue: “I don’t know how to make titles or albums to orderlike that. I need to nourish myself with different experiences. To nourish myself with travel. It’s always interesting to meet people who are not at all in the profession that we can do, and there is a certain spontaneity that occurs.”