Busy comeback for Isabelle Ithurburu. From today, she takes over from Nikos at the presentation of “50 minutes inside” on TF1. Without forgetting “Le Mag” which starts this Friday, September 8 with the Rugby World Cup. Surprise transfer at the end of last season, the journalist-host worked for fourteen years on Canal +, eight of which at the presentation of the “Canal rugby club”. In her voice that reveals a slight accent from the South-West, Isabelle Ithurburu reveals her new missions on the front page.
How are you approaching this fall?
There is a mixture of apprehension and excitement with the World Cup which promises to be historic. Then it always feels good to change. After 14 years at Canal+, I put myself in a bit of danger. Well, that’s a big word, obviously there’s nothing very serious, but I’m going to start on several fronts, including “50 minutes inside” which is really very new to me.
Did you need this change?
Not “needed” because I didn’t lack anything but I wanted to when it was offered to me. It’s a bit different because really, it didn’t come from me. On the contrary, it cost me, really cost me, to make this decision, to assume it afterwards, to say goodbye… So it’s not a need, I could have continued to do this for years by being very happy.
Finally, what tipped the balance in favor of TF1?
Really, the most important point was the possibility of doing something else besides rugby, the possibility of discovering other areas.
In the past, you have presented ” The Tube » Or ” Good evening ! ». Why is it important for you not to limit yourself to sport?
In fact, I don’t really know… I always say that this profession fell on me a bit. Already, by devoting myself solely to rugby, I feel like it’s like a gift to work in the field in which I practice. Afterwards I always want to do more. It’s a bit complicated because I never saw myself as a sports journalist, compared to other colleagues who had dreamed of doing so since childhood. Me, I did not imagine myself doing that, it happened. In fact, it’s the desire to see: if I knew how to do that, will I be able to do that? And then maybe this? Do not stay on your laurels and always try new things.
What was your dream if not to be a journalist?
My parents were grocers, there weren’t big resources, so the goal was to do studies that would allow me to work as quickly as possible. I wanted to make a living to travel, to be able to do things. It turns out that the chance of life made me find a job that is not a job because sports journalist, in his favorite discipline, it is not a job. I have been living great things day by day for fourteen years. All I do is try to stay in this.
Were you surprised that TF1 thought of you for these two missions?
Not this time. They had already come to see me twice around the Rugby World Cup. So there was logic, even though I thought they wouldn’t come back because I was getting older and had already said no twice. I thought they had moved on. So what surprised me more is that they have a long-term vision and well beyond rugby for me, because I myself am not yet sure of being neither capable nor legitimate.
When you join a new channel, do hosts and journalists show up to welcome you?
Yes a lot. In fact, it made me realize that there were a lot of people from the South West on TF1! I am thinking of Marie-Sophie Lacarrau and Bixente Lizarazu. I obviously had Grégoire Margotton, whom I knew from Canal+. There was Denis Brogniart, Anne-Claire Coudray who sent me a very nice message, etc. And Nikos of course.
What did he tell you?
He congratulated me, wished me good luck and above all gave some advice, simple but essential, on the fact that I should not be afraid, that I should remain faithful to what I know how to do and to who I am, that it was going go well. And above all he told me that he was there if anything was needed to help me, that I don’t hesitate. Very classy and friendly!
How do you succeed someone who has played a show for sixteen years?
And especially someone called Nikos! At the same time, he completely marked this show, and in addition it is not just anyone. For me, he is the most charismatic host on TV today in France, the best known, the most appreciated. So how do we do it? I don’t know, I have no choice (laughs)! That’s why he was supercool to just remind me of the essentials, to stay myself, that is to say, precisely, not to try to copy and to be authentic as he has been since years. For me, that’s what worked in rugby, so I think I shouldn’t lose sight of that. Anyway, I can’t compare myself to him at all, so we start from scratch and that’s it.
Does your arrival announce other novelties in the show?
No. It’s already quite a big change when a season starts and it’s not the same host anymore. Obviously there will be a change in the sense that I am not Nikos. If only in the interview, I don’t have the relationship he has with celebrities at all. Nine out of ten guests don’t know me before we meet. Those who know me have never seen me do anything other than rugby. That alone will make it different in tone. But I’m not going to revolutionize a program that is doing very well.
How would you define your interview style?
I will say that I am rather spontaneous and in empathy, emotion. The goal is to take the time to discover the person.
Do you have any role models?
I watched Nikos a lot, putting a lot of pressure on myself! In absolute terms, I like interviewers who put the guest first. I am thinking of Michel Denisot, whom I find surgical and excellent. He speaks very little and is just right, he doesn’t need to fuss. Nikos is like that too.
You take control of “50 minutes inside” on September 2, then you continue on Friday September 8 with the Rugby World Cup. The week promises to be quite busy. What feeling predominates?
At first I was excited. There I begin to see the mass of work and stress, appointments, rehearsals… It seems like a mountain to me, but I can’t wait for it to start.
What is ” The Magazine » what are you presenting?
It’s a post-match, so priority to the summary and analysis of the match that we have just followed. Obviously there is also a very large page dedicated to the Blues. We are lucky to have Matthieu Dupont, a journalist who has been at the heart of the France team since the start of the preparation until the end of the World Cup. As a result, each evening we will really highlight this exclusivity. All in a tone that I appreciate, that of conviviality with the former players who will be there, something that evokes a group of friends.
How are you going to address specialists and neophytes at the same time?
This is a bit of the complexity of the exercise. With “Le Canal Rugby Club”, I had already started this work. It’s not very complicated for me because although I’m passionate about rugby, I don’t know everything yet, I don’t have the ins and outs of all the rules, I’ve never played rugby. However, I love this sport. My goal is to transmit this passion to everyone. So you have to respect the expert who wants to understand things that are a bit specific, but you really also have to take advantage of this event to communicate this love of rugby even to people who, to date, would have only seen two or three games.
How was this passion born?
During the 1999 World Cup and the France-New Zealand match, which we miraculously won. Until that day, I had watched a few matches from afar with my father, without really understanding and without really liking either, but I had a curiosity all the same, so he had said to me: “If you want to see a match , it’s this one “. So, we sat down in front of this meeting and it was a revelation. I was 16 and from then on I loved this sport.
After October 28, so after the Rugby World Cup, do you have other projects with TF1?
We’ll see then. I asked to go very slowly because the start of the school year is very busy. I’m not going to skip the steps. I know that in November, we will have time to sit down and think, in any case the more or less long-term idea is to do other things alongside “50 minutes inside”.