2023-10-30 14:54:00
The announcement had the effect of a bomb. Less than a week before the launch of the new season of Star Academy, Saturday on TF1, three selected candidates were ousted. This is what one of them said on Monday, on condition of anonymity, on Sud Radio. Information confirmed by the Puremédias site.
The one who called himself Thomas says he was selected to join the castle of Dammarie-Les-Lys for the new season of Star Academy. He received confirmation of his presence in the 2023 class on September 21. He says he met the Endemol production teams, sent his measurements to have clothes in his size during the bonuses and shot the video sequences presenting the candidates, as well as signed the contracts governing his participation in the emission. In short, he was on cloud nine, barely realizing what was happening to him.
Until October 19, everything seemed normal. He knew the title he was going to have to perform during Saturday’s prime, with a crazy staging and a solo performance. Then the dream turned into a nightmare. 12 days before the launch of the new season of the show, he learns that he is being ousted… due to budgetary restrictions. “Everything collapses. In a split second, all my dreams are shattered. Casting for Star Academy is very trying. Since May 3, I have been thinking about Star Ac, dreaming about Star Ac, and living Star Ac. It’s an extremely long and physically and psychologically demanding casting process. […] They had to reduce the number of weeks of broadcast, from 13 to 11 weeks, and therefore, obviously, reduce the number of candidates, from 16 to 13,” he explained on Sud Radio.
Added to this are other unfavorable elements, the channel explained to the rejected candidate. There was the premature defeat of the French XV during the Rugby World Cup which caused the channel to lose a lot of revenue. But also the tense context due to the situation between Israel and the Palestinians which also has an impact on revenue. Finally, the upcoming arrival of an expensive program on which TF1 is banking heavily is also advanced. Everyone is thinking about the return confirmed at the end of last week of Secret Story, another flagship event from the 2000s resurrected by the leading French channel.
8,000 euros in compensation
Puremédia indicates that reducing the length of the season is being studied at TF1. If it were to be confirmed, it would only be done “at the margin, one or two weeks”, specifies the website.
According to Télé-Loisirs, Thomas would have received compensation for the mishap that befell him. He would have received a sum of around 8,000 euros. Nothing to alleviate his disappointment. He is angry with TF1 but not with Endémol, the company producing Star Academy. “Endemol was impeccable until the end. They took time with me to explain and (give me) psychological support. It is not them that I incriminate and condemn today.”
Still on the airwaves of Sud Radio, “Thomas” again evokes the situation of another candidate ousted like him at the last minute. The latter experiences this misadventure even worse. This is a younger person, he said. “She was really counting on (Star Ac’) and thought her life was going to change a little bit. She’s been in her bed for a week and she doesn’t even want to talk to her parents.”
At the time of writing these lines, neither TF1 nor Endémol have yet spoken on the subject.
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