Benjamin Castaldi (; born 28 March 1970) is a French television host, columnist, radio host and producer. He is the former host of '' Secret Story'', a spinoff of '' Loft Story'', which he also hosted.

Biography

Family

Benjamin Castaldi was born into a family of artists, being the son of actress and writer

Catherine Allégret Catherine Allégret (born 16 April 1946) is a French actress. She is the daughter of Simone Signoret and Yves Allégret.Becker, Frawley (2004) ''And the Stars Spoke Back: A Dialogue Coach Remembers Hollywood Players of the Sixties in Paris'', Sc ...

and actor Jean-Pierre Castaldi. He grew up surrounded by his grandmother, actress

Simone Signoret Simone Signoret (; born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker; 25 March 1921 – 30 September 1985) was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and ...

, his grandfather, director

Yves Allégret Yves Allégret (13 October 1905 – 31 January 1987) was a French film director, often working in the film noir genre. He was born in Asnières-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine and died in Paris. He was an assistant to film directors such as his brothe ...

, and the adoptive father of his mother, actor and singer

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), better known as Yves Montand (), was an Italian-born French actor and singer. He is said to be one of France's greatest 20th-century artists. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Stignano, a ...

. He has a maternal half-sister, Clémentine Vaudaux and two paternal half-siblings, Giovanni and Paola. He is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

, and

Hungarian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...

descent.

Studies and professional debut

In the late 1980s, Castaldi, who then aspired to become a businessman, began studies in economics at

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

. He then applied for a position in a home meal delivery company, where he was finally hired as a

salesperson Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

. Castaldi then became director of the company, which ended up filing bankruptcy. Wishing to try his luck as a music producer, he moved to the United States where he tried to relaunch the career of singer Esther Galil. After this failed, in 1993, he returned to Paris. Meanwhile, in 1992, he participated as an "anonymous" candidate in the game Que le meilleur gagne presented by Nagui on

La Cinq La Cinq (, ) was a French free-to-air television channel. Created by politician Jérôme Seydoux and Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, it existed from 1986 to 1992. The contract for France's fifth terrestrial network, which was suppos ...

Personal life

Castaldi married on 22 September 1993 in

Saint-Mandé Saint-Mandé (; named for Saint Maudez) is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France, in the high-end eastern inner suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, cent ...

to Valérie Sapienza, the mother of his sons Julien (born 18 September 1996) and Simon (born 20 April 2000). They divorced in 2001. On 21 September 2002, he married the television and radio host Flavie Flament who he met in December 2000 on the show Les P'tits Princes (on

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

). Castaldi has a son with her, Enzo (born 8 February 2004). They separated in December 2006 before divorcing in July 2008. On 24 November 2011, he married journalist and television host Vanessa Broussouloux in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark. They divorced in May 2016 and on 27 August of the same year he married an interview director of the company Endemol, Aurore Aleman, met in 2015. His eldest son Julien joined The Mad Mag on NRJ12 as a columnist in 2017. On 22 November 2017, he revealed on the plateau of '' Touche pas à mon poste !'' having had a three-day affair with the French journalist Annie Lemoine.

Motorcycle accident

On 23 June 2012, Castaldi was involved in a motorcycle accident where he suffered a collarbone fracture and two broken ribs. He left the hospital the following day. At the time, he was hosting the French reality series Secret Story which led to the decision that television presenter Nikos Aliagas hosted the show while everybody waited for Castaldi's return. Castaldi returned on air on 2 July, but normality was soon interrupted. It turned out that he had six broken ribs, and his collarbone had not healed properly, he was operated with urgency. The Voice of Secret Story took over the hosting of the show.

Financial issues

In 2012, Castaldi discovered that he was ruined and claimed to be a victim of a real estate scam of the financial consulting company Apollonia. In 2017 he said he couldn't buy Christmas presents or do fun activities with his children anymore. In December 2014, he publicly declared himself a victim of a scam that involved a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

, a promoter and a bank. He claimed six million

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

in court for compensation of damages he suffered.

Career

* 1994–1997: ''Studio Gabriel'' with Michel Drucker /

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

* 1997–1998: ''L'Étoffe des ados'' /

La Cinquième France 5 () is a French free-to-air public television channel, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring nonfiction and educational programming, the channel's motto is ''la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir'' (the knowl ...

* 1997–1998: ''Drucker'N Co'' / France 2 * 1998: ''Le rendez-vous'' /

* 1998: ''Fous d'humour'' /

* 1998–1999: ''Vivement dimanche'' with Michel Drucker /

* 1999: ''Célébrités'' /

with Carole Rousseau and Stéphane Bern * 2000: ''Les P'tits Princes'' /

with Carole Rousseau, Sophie Thalmann, , Frédéric Joly and Flavie Flament * 2001–2002: ''Loft Story'' (seasons 1–2) / M6 * 2002: ''Popstars, spéciale L5'' / M6 * 2002–2003: ''QI, Le Grand Test'' (editions 1 – 2) / M6 with Mac Lesggy * 2002–2003: ''Absolument 80'', ''Absolument 70'', ''Absolument Été'' / M6 * 2002: ''Mémoire, Le Grand Test'' / M6 with Mac Lesggy * 2003–2006: ''

Nouvelle Star ''Nouvelle Star'' (; also known as '' À la Recherche de la Nouvelle Star'' for the first season) is a French television series based on the popular Pop Idol programme produced by FremantleMedia. It was broadcast by M6 in seasons 1–8 befor ...

'' (seasons 1–4) / M6 * 2003: ''Tous les oppose'' / M6 * 2003: ''Culture générale, Le Grand Test'' / M6 : with Mac Lesggy * 2004: ''Permis de conduire, Le Grand Test'' / M6 with Mac Lesggy * 2004: ''Le Pensionnat de Chavagnes : Ils disent tout !'' / M6 with Mac Lesggy * 2005: ''Totale Impro'' / M6 * 2006:

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and Pop music, pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France. During a career ...

, Flashback Tour 2006 in

Bercy Bercy () is a neighbourhood in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France, the city's 47th administrative neighbourhood. History Some of the oldest vestiges of human occupation in Paris were found on the territory of Bercy, dating from the late N ...

* 2006: ''Les 40 couples stars qui ont marqué les Français'' /

with Flavie Flament * 2006–2007: ''Langues de VIP'' /

* 2007–2008: ''1 contre 100'' /

* 2007: ''Les 30 destins de stars les plus incroyables'' /

* 2007: ''Les Rois du Système D'' /

– with Églantine Éméyé * 2007: ''Incroyables Destins'' /

* 2007–2014: ''Secret Story'' (seasons 1–8) /

* 2007–2011: ''Le Grand Quiz du cerveau'' (editions 1–5) /

with Carole Rousseau * 2007–2008: ''Le Grand Music Quiz'' (editions 1–2) /

* 2008: ''9e cérémonie des NRJ Music Awards'' /

* 2008: ''Qui peut battre Benjamin Castaldi ?'' /

– with Carole Rousseau and Denis Brogniart * 2009: ''Mes parents vont t'adorer'' / NRJ 12 * 2010: ''La Ferme Célébrités en Afrique'' /

- with Jean-Pierre Foucault * 2010: ''Qui peut battre Philippe Lucas ?'' /

* 2010: ''Les Stars se dépassent pour Ela'' /

* 2011: ''La vie de Vynzkozy'' / NRJ 12 * 2012: '' La Roue de la fortune'' /

with

Valérie Bègue Valérie Bègue (born 26 September 1985) is a French reality television personality and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss France 2008, representing Réunion island, an overseas department of France located in the Indian Ocean. Bègue is th ...

* 2012: ''You Can Dance'' / NT1 * 2014: '' Tahiti Quest'' / Gulli * 2014: ''The Winner Is'' /

* 2015: ''

'' / D8 * 2015: ''L'Académie des neuf'' / NRJ 12 * 2015: ''Super Million Question'' / NRJ 12 * 2016: Equidia Life Academy / Equidia Life * 2016–present: '' Touche pas à mon poste !'' / C8 * 2016: ''Hold Up'' / C8 * 2016: ''Big Buzz Quiz'' / C8 * 2017: ''TPMP ! Castaldi vs. Delormeau : qui sera le meilleur animateur ?'' / C8 * 2017: ''TPMP ! Les paris sont lancés'' / C8 * 2017: ''Cash Island'' / C8 * 2017: ''TPMP, le jeu : C'est que de l'amour !'' / C8 * 2017: ''Paris à nous les Jeux ! Le grand concert'' / C8 : with Hervé Mathoux and Marie Portolano * 2017: ''Family Battle'' / C8 * 2017: ''La Magie selon Guényanimée par Maxime Guény'' / C8 * 2018: ''La Télé même l'été !'' / C8 * 2018: ''TPMP ! Ouvert à tous'' / C8 * 2018: ''TPMP refait la semaine'' / C8 * 2018: ''TPMP fait son bêtisier !'' / C8 with Kelly Vedovelli * 2019: ''TPMP : les 10 plus gros clashs à la télé'' / C8 * 2019: ''TPMP : les 20 émissions préférées des Français'' / C8

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castaldi, Benjamin 1970 births Living people French television presenters French people of Italian descent Journalists from Boulogne-Billancourt French people of Polish-Jewish descent French people of Hungarian-Jewish descent 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists Secret Story (French TV series)