"This interview is crazy": Gilles Bouleau reveals the incredible backstage of his interview with Vladimir Poutine

Friday June 17, 2022, Gilles Bouleau was invited on the Daily set, on TMC. Facing Yann Barthès, the journalist spoke at length about his interview with Vladimir Poutine, in June 2014.

An interview that particularly marked him… On June 4, 2014, Gilles Bouleau met for the first time Vladimir Poutine. Guest on the set of Daily, on TMC, Friday June 17, 2022, the journalist lifted the veil on their interview. “This interview is crazy!“, he exclaimed before explaining: “We leave by plane and the appointment is fixed at 2 p.m. with Poutine. We were with Jean-Pierre El Kabbach and from 9 am, we prepare the interview. And at 3 p.m., there is still no minibus that takes us from the hotel to Poutine’s residence. At 5 p.m., we go there and we arrive in a very small room. Without a toilet, without a tap, without anything to eat.“After settling down with their cameramen, the journalists saw Russian television cameramen arrive, present to be sure that the president would not be cut off unintentionally.

Faced with Yann Barthès and his columnists, the journalist recalled: “At 7:00 p.m., Putin’s press secretary arrives and tells us he’s coming. We are starting to be tired, we are less pugnacious. We say to ourselves: ‘Okay the questions, I don’t care a bit, I just want us to go.’ Like a delayed tennis or football match, the stakes are no longer the same! You don’t necessarily want to put Putin in trouble or ask intelligent questions. You say to yourself: ‘Let it be over, I’m exhausted, I’m fed up.’“After revealing that this was done on purpose to destabilize them, Gilles Bouleau dropped:”At 9 p.m., she said to us: ‘Ah, I have good news for you, he’s almost finished!’ At 10 p.m., 11 p.m., nothing happens. We had been locked in this room for 14 hours.“

Gilles Bouleau: “At 1:15 a.m., he finally arrives, fresh as a roach!”

At 11 p.m., the TF1 JT star learned good news. “She comes back and says to us: ‘There, I have excellent news, President Putin must just receive the Under-Secretary for Commerce and then he is yours‘“, he confided before adding: “Midnight, she arrives resplendent! ‘That’s it, it’s over, Putin has finished his day, he’s yours. But he has to take a nap first.’ At 1:15 a.m., he finally arrives, fresh as a roach! We were exhausted, exhausted, tired.“After explaining that Stalin did the same, Gilles Bouleau said: “Once the interview begins, it goes well. He wasn’t trying to be nice and he was ready to talk until the end of the night. (…) We understood who the character was.“

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Gilles Bouleau, Jean-Pierre El Kabbach and Vladimir Poutine
Invited on the set of Daily, on TMC, Friday June 17, 2022, the journalist lifted the veil on their interview.

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Gilles Bouleau and Jean-Pierre El Kabbach
Gilles Bouleau confided: “This interview is crazy!”

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Vladimir Poutine
Gilles Bouleau recalled: “We were with Jean-Pierre El Kabbach and from 9 a.m., we prepare the interview. And at 3 p.m., there is still no minibus that takes us from the hotel to at Putin’s residence.”

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Gilles Bouleau
Gilles Bouleau was marked by this meeting.

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Gilles Bouleau
Gilles Bouleau is the star of the JT of TF1.

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Gilles Bouleau
After settling down with their cameramen, the journalists saw the arrival of Russian television cameramen, present to be sure that the president would not be wrongly cut off.

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Gilles Bouleau and Vladimir Putin
Faced with Yann Barthès and his columnists, Gilles Bouleau recalled: “At 7 p.m., Poutine’s press officer arrives and tells us that he is coming. We are starting to be tired, we are less pugnacious.”