In an exclusive interview with Le Parisien, Yanis Marshall, dance teacher at Star Academy 2022, discusses his departure from the show, assuring that it is "not his decision".
The announcement of Yanis Marshall's departure from Star Academy surprised everyone. The dance teacher and choreographer of the 2022 edition will not return for the next season, which begins on November 4, 2023. TF1 production has assured that the reasons for his departure, just like that of Laure Balon (former dance teacher stage expression), are linked to “complicated personal projects to implement if it takes them three months” of their time.
This Tuesday, October 10, in an interview with Le Parisien, Yanis Marshall officially takes the floor to tell "his truth" (sic): "It's not a decision on my part." The dancer and choreographer thus assures that he had difficulty coping with "the pressure of the show", to the point of giving him "huge anxiety attacks" from the third prime.
He explains that he went through "alcohol" and the party of the third week of broadcast, the day before the third prime to release the pressure, which "posed a problem for the production, a bit". But everything changed during the NRJ Music Awards, in November 2022, he assures: "When leaving the stage, I downed a bottle of champagne and I collapsed in tears. I had the biggest crisis of anxiety in my life. The pressure, the pace, the crowds, the social networks… I broke down."
Yanis Marshall said he then confided in someone from TF1, “thinking she would keep the secret”. “If I had experienced the same thing and said nothing, I would still be at Star Academy today,” said the former dance teacher. “It’s total hypocrisy.”
He discovered in February that he was being kicked out of the program, even though he had started sessions with a psychologist several weeks earlier. "They told me, 'You know, you're not stable,' and that they couldn't take the risk of taking me back. I was surprised that they didn't take me back, because even though I I didn't go to rehab, I had started working on myself. [...] I was getting back on track, I was getting better and I hit myself in the face. Even though I never imagined this new season without me."
Just like Laure Balon, “who was also ousted”, Yanis Marshall will not return to the Star Academy in November. He will be replaced by Malika Benjelloun, for whom he assures that he is “very happy”: “She is a great dance teacher, very educational. On the other hand, I find it a shame that she is not a prime choreographer.” Whatever happens, the former dance teacher assures him, he will be in front of his screen for the launch of the next season of Star Ac, on November 4.
