After seven years of absence, the famous reality TV program is making its comeback on TF1 screens this April 23, with a very destabilizing broadcast.
After a notable absence of six years, a famous reality TV program will make its comeback on TF1 screens in April. The show will be hosted by a face known to viewers of the first channel, Christophe Beaugrand, who had already hosted the last three seasons. This cult program from the late 2000s and early 2010s returns this Tuesday, April 23, officially launching its twelfth season. And TF1 is banking heavily on its audience’s feeling of nostalgia, hoping to relive the success of previous editions.
In a context where the channel has already relaunched several cult programs such as Star Academy or Plus belle la vie, the return of Secret Story, since it is this show that is in question, is part of the strategy rehabilitation of emblematic broadcasts of the last ten or twenty years by TF1. Jean-Louis Blot, the president of Endemol France, producer of Secret Story, did not hide his enthusiasm at the idea of bringing this brand back to life, emphasizing the importance of showing that “people love it”.
However, the broadcast schedule of this new edition raises questions. Scheduled to start this Tuesday, April 23 in the second part of the evening at 11:30 p.m., just after Koh-Lanta, Secret Story will subsequently have no place in prime time, or even in the second part of the evening. Rémi Faure, director of streaming programs at TF1, justifies this choice by evoking the channel's already busy schedule, with in particular Koh Lanta on Tuesday, Dancing with the Stars on Friday evening, soon followed by Mask Singer, which occupy already a bonus as well as a second, later part.
To see Secret Story on television, you will therefore have to be in front of your screen every day, Monday to Friday, at 5:30 p.m. The eliminations will not be entitled to a special broadcast and will be announced during the Friday daily news. The objective stated by TF1 is in particular to reach a wider audience, available at the end of the afternoon. It is also, undoubtedly, for this reason that the producers are announcing a completely revisited program, more family-friendly and far from the clashes, trash and stories of couples (or even sex) that have made its reputation until now.
However, this schedule may not be suitable for everyone, particularly a young audience. The latter will have something to make up for with another broadcast at 7:05 p.m. on TFX and especially by connecting every day to the “house of secrets” via the TF1 platform, between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., then between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Short live sessions, full of advertising, which are undoubtedly the real strategic asset of the program for the group.
The production also announced a series of new features for Secret Story, the most notable of which is undoubtedly the move of the house of secrets to Poissy. This new residence, the largest ever built for the show, will be equipped with a “game area” inspired by the “Squid Game” series...
The casting for this twelfth season, drawn up from 22,000 applications and completed by a “wild” casting, remains a mystery for the moment. The winner will leave with a check for 100,000 euros, in addition to their personal prize pool accumulated throughout the adventure.
