Today at the head of 12 Midday shots et héros de la série Léo MattéïJean-Luc Reichmann is one of the most popular faces on French television. And before experiencing this success, the host spent a long time WATCH YOUR STEP !the daily game that marked the 2000s on TF1. Podcast guest Legendbroadcast this June 17, the presenter agreed to return to some notable memories from his career. Among them, an on-set incident about which viewers never knew anything. A particularly tense moment that could have turned sour in front of several hundred people.
Jean-Luc Reichmann confronted with spectators who denounce a “rigged” game
While the show is being recorded, a man in the audience suddenly speaks. His accusation is direct: according to him, the game is rigged. “There was a guy who said: ‘Yeah, your game is rigged‘“, remembers Jean-Luc Reichmann. Very quickly, security intervened to try to calm the situation. In vain. The host then understood that the incident risked taking on an unexpected magnitude. At the time, he immediately asked the director Didier Fraisse to continue filming. “Didier are you filming? “Non”. Film“, he says today. A precaution that he considers necessary in the face of the situation. Meanwhile, the production teams are worried. Under the eyes of nearly 300 spectators, Jean-Luc Reichmann, however, decides to leave the set to join the disruptors in the stands. An initiative far from being unanimously approved by management. “I go into the audience. 300 people, it’s complicated“he explains. Without a headset to communicate with the teams, he then sees the alert messages scrolling on the teleprompters. “Jean-Luc, you are not going“, “Jean-Luc, stop“, “Jean-Luc, you are not going up“, he can read as tension rises behind the scenes. Despite the warnings, he continues on his way and settles down alongside the disgruntled spectators. “I sit next to the guys. I said: ‘Okay, what’s the matter actually? What’s the problem?’“
“That lasted 25 minutes”: a moment of tension which marked the host
Faced with him, the reproaches fly. The men explain that they participated in the selections without ever being selected and say they are convinced that everything is decided in advance. “Yeah, it’s fake. Anyway, We can’t play, we’ve made the selections. It’s fake, it’s scandalous“, they tell him. Jean-Luc Reichmann then tries to calm people down and understand their frustration. A discussion that will drag on much longer than he had imagined. “Ça a duré 25 minutes. J’étais seul à côté. Et ça a tourné“, he says. Throughout this exchange, the cameras continue to record while the rest of the audience watches, helplessly, the scene. With hindsight, it is above all the atmosphere that reigned that day that the host remembers. “Le public était terrifié“, he confides. A concern all the greater as many children were present in the stands. “People don’t know. There are kids in the audience.“Finally, the incident was brought under control and recording could resume. But this sequence will never be broadcast on air. One thing is certain, behind the light atmosphere of television games, certain days of filming sometimes reserve many surprises…
