The news had the effect of a crushing blow for the followers of the show Saturday and nothing else, on ICI Première. Its host, Joël Le Bigot, will retire next month after 45 years of hosting at Radio-Canada.
“I will not be coming back in September,” said the seasoned host, who is at the helm of Saturday and nothing else for 24 years. His last show will take place on June 18, from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., in the presence of his many collaborators, including the journalist from To have to Isabelle Porter. Moved, Mr. Le Bigot, aged 76, told his listeners that this decision was not easy to make.
“I say to myself, what are you doing? I tell myself, at 76, you’re good in the studio […] When I leave the studio, I leave a place that is good for me. Why not another year? he said during his weekly show. However, he wanted to leave with his head held high, he said.
“Are you in control of your life or is your life going to decide? Will next year things go less well and management will decide that I’m too old to do radio? […] I am capable enough to be in control of my life and to decide my own life,” he said.
A seasoned facilitator
Known and loved for his outspokenness, Joël Le Bigot began his career in public radio in 1967 at the regional station of Radio-Canada in Chicoutimi. Ten years later, he takes the helm of the morning radio show CBF-Bonjour, on the air from Monday to Friday. He hosted it for 19 years.
After a trip around the world at the age of 50, Mr. Le Bigot took the helm in 1998 of the show Saturday and nothing else. He also hosted the show Why not on Sunday? from 1998 to 2011.
“After ruling our weekday mornings for 20 years, it has dominated the airwaves on Saturday mornings for two decades. He will have marked the spirits with his unique style. A team player, he knew how, with his collaborators, to create strong links with our listeners and he did not hesitate to welcome and support new voices over the years. Great voice of ICI Première, it is a giant of our radio that is bowing out, ”reacted in a press release the director general of Audio and Radio of Radio-Canada, Caroline Jamet.
The animator, who was born in France, arrived in Montreal at the age of two, in 1948.