The late Thierry Ardisson was one of the cult figures of the PAF. While tributes are raining and his funeral are preparing, here is everything you need to know about him.
An essential figure in the French audiovisual landscape, Thierry Ardisson did not leave anyone indifferent. Discover all the secrets of the one that was nicknamed “the man in black”.
The latest news on Thierry Ardisson
Where does Thierry Ardisson come from?
Thierry Ardisson was born on January 6, 1949 in Bourganeuf (Creuse). But his family came from the south of France (near Nice) and it is only because of the work of his father Victor, engineer in the construction industry who was to make trips around France, that he was born in this corner of the country. He never lived there.
On the other hand, Thierry Ardisson lived during part of his childhood in Algeria and then, thereafter, in Haute-Savoie, since he had been admitted to Catholic boarding school.
The late animator was long ashamed of his modest origins and the little money that his family had. “”I did not understand why I was born there. I thought there was an error in maternity. I did not understand what I was doing in this family. Why didn’t we have a DS 19 but a runner -up. Why we lived in a building and that we did not have a property at the end of an alley of trees (…) I felt completely foreign to that“He had said on France Inter.
What died Thierry Ardisson?
After a controversy as to the supposedly premature announcement of the death of Thierry Ardisson, his wife the journalist and presenter Audrey Crespo-Mara finally, with the family of the deceased, confirmed the death of the animator on July 14, 2025, by a message transmitted to AFP.
Thierry Ardisson had been in the hospital for several days and died of liver cancer. “”Thierry left as he lived. As a courageous and free man. With his children and mine, we were united around him. Until his last breath“, reacted his wife. The funeral of Thierry Ardisson were announced for July 17, 2025, in the Saint-Roch church, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. Access to the ceremony will be” reserved for guests “and the host had already decided almost everything for his funeral.
Why had Thierry Ardisson called on justice?
In 2019, after thirteen years of collaboration, Thierry Ardisson had sued the late C8 television channel For “Brutal rupture of trade relations“. The Canal+ group had decided to put an end to the broadcast of its program Hi Terrans! And, according to him, it was because of his refusal to comply with the wishes of the boss, Vincent Bolloré. “”When I was asked to invite some people, I said no. When I was asked to cut sequences, I refused (…) Beyond what to do, there is the political line of the chain, and I do not want to be assimilated to the extreme right“He had assured on RMC.
On October 23, 2024, the Canal+ group was thus sentenced by the Paris Court of Appeal to pay 2.9 million euros in damages to the animator.
Thierry Ardisson and money: his assumed lifestyle
In an interview with the newspaper ReleaseThierry Ardisson had revealed to lead a particularly expensive lifestyle, ensuring that he spent 20,000 euros per month! But the former advertiser – we owe him, for example, the famous slogan Lapeyre, there are not two! – had then told the host Jordan of luxury that this sum included the salaries of its employees, social charges or the maintenance of its real estate.
In the pages of Parisianin 2021, he said: “After thirty-five years on TV, I have something to live when it goes badly. But I did not make a fortune.“He pushed the nail into Release by comparing themselves to other PAF animators. “”I am not rich like Arthur (which is multimillionaire, editor’s note)but I have enough to hold up to 106 years“. Thierry Ardisson had in particular an apartment of 120 m², rue de Rivoli, in Paris. In addition, Thierry Ardisson”had just bought a house in the Luberon with his partner, Audrey Crespo-Mara“, Reports Midi Libre.
Thierry Ardisson and drugs
In an interview with CloserThierry Ardisson had entrusted without turning around the pot having consumed drugs for a while. “”When you are a little pub from the ad, as you earn a lot of money, the purpose of the profession is so zero that after a while, we ask questions about his own use on earth. So I kicked myself up by believing to escape this emptiness …“”
With TV Maghe said: “I took heroin, which is the worst of all drugs! I knew what I wanted in life: becoming rich and famous. But I knew it was going to be very long. So I looked for all possible loopholes, including drugs. One day I decided to stop.“”
Thierry Ardisson and his private life: who were the women of his life?
Since 2009, Thierry Ardisson was in a relationship with the journalist and presenter of TF1, Audrey Crespo-Mara. The two lovebirds even married in June 2014. They did not always live together. “”My children are big now, they no longer live in Paris with me, I no longer have to raise them day after day. So I can be in an almost exclusive couple life with Thierry. For the moment, we each have an apartment, but we are looking for“, had entrusted the journalist to the Figaro.
Previously, Thierry Ardisson shared his life with a certain Christiane, whom he had married in 1970. Then there was Béatrice Loustalan, musician and composer. The couple were married in April 1988 but announced their divorce in 2010.
Has Thierry Ardisson had children?
Laurent Baffie’s great acolyte was the father of three children: Manon born in 1989, Ninon born in 1991 and Gaston born in 1996, all from his second marriage.
He was also the stepfather of the two children of Audrey Crespo-Mara: Sékou born in 2002 and Lamine born in 2005. About their recomposed family, Audrey Crespo-Mara had declared in TV Magazine : “Today, we are a beautiful family. We see each other very often, not a week when we don’t see each other. Today, grandchildren are at the heart of attention. The relationships are quiet, simple“.
