The coffin arrives, to applause
Jean-Pierre Pernaut’s coffin enters the basilica, to applause. His wife Nathalie Marquay-Pernaut and their children enter in turn.
Two large portraits of Jean-Pierre Pernaut, smiling, frame the door of the basilica.
“He was an extraordinary journalist”
“Jean-Pierre Pernaut was an extraordinary journalist, a dear friend, and a wonderful guy”, launched Gilles Bouleau at the microphone of BFMTV, stressing that “until the end he remained a craftsman, a humble guy, funny, quirky and infinitely serious when it came to writing his diary.
“He loved the public”
Cyril Hanouna, also participates in this tribute. The host, who had received Jean-Pierre Pernaut on his set recently to discuss his fight against cancer, and to raise public awareness, spoke of his emotion at the microphone of BFMTV.
“For me he is not gone, he will always be there. He is one of the men who helped me the most in the profession”, he underlined.
“He loved the public and he was close to the public. He was a star without being one. He was not disconnected”.
Brigitte Macron and Nicolas Sarkozy arrive at Ste Clotilde
Brigitte Macron and Nicolas Sarkozy are also among the personalities who came to pay tribute to Jean-Pierre Pernaut.
Many political figures have thus greeted the former presenter, from Emmanuel Macron to Marine Le Pen, via Eric Zemmour, Yannick Jadot, Anne Hidalgo.
We also saw at the funeral of Jean-Pierre Pernaut, Valérie Pécresse, Rachida Dati, Christian Estrosi.
The “TF1 family” reunited
Many personalities from the TF1 group, long-time colleagues of Jean-Pierre Pernaut are present this Wednesday.
Nathalie Marquay-Pernaut spoke on March 4 in a sequence broadcast during 8 p.m. on TF1, the journalist’s attachment to his channel and his profession.
“He was not retired, after all. He was a workaholic. He always worried about the TF1 family, he always wanted it to be done well,” she testified, adding that she had had all the trouble in the world to get him to retire.
Jean-Pierre Pernaut handed over in December 2020, after 33 years at the helm of 1 p.m. His last JT had been followed by 8 million viewers, a sign of popularity still at the top.
Many personalities will attend the funeral
Michel Drucker, Karine Le Marchand, Evelyne Dhéliat, David Douillet arrive at the Ste-Clotilde basilica, to pay a last tribute to their friend Jean-Pierre Pernaut.
Laurence Ferrari, Sylvie Tellier, Denis Brogniart and Gilles Bouleau were also spotted.
many tributes
As soon as the death of Jean-Pierre Pernaut was announced, the tributes multiplied. From his fellow journalists, from Claire Chazal to Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, but also in the political class.
One of the last star presenters of the JT
Jean-Pierre Pernaut will remain the one who popularized regional information on TF1. Arrived at the helm of 13H in 1988, after Yves Mourousi, he propelled the JT of the first channel, at the top of the audience, regularly exceeding 40% of audience share.
In 33 years of newspaper, Jean-Pierre Pernaut becomes for many French people a reassuring anchor, highlighting in his newspaper the small villages, the local initiatives, and the old trades.
“He deeply loved this France of the terroirs he knew, he loved the ancestral know-how, the craftsmanship, the history and the geography of our country”, commented on March 2 on BFMTV, Claire Chazal, who worked with him for a long time.
A religious ceremony at 11 a.m.
The funeral of Jean-Pierre Pernaut, who succumbed to lung cancer on March 2, at the age of 71, is taking place this Wednesday in Paris.
A religious ceremony must be held from 11:00 a.m. at the Sainte-Clotilde basilica in the 7th arrondissement of Paris.
The burial will be held in the strictest privacy.