“It is important for me to say goodbye and especially thank you”

We will see him one last time on RTL-TVI this Friday in a “Belgians at home” dedicated to him, but Thomas Van Hamme has decided to leave the channel permanently.

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This Thursday at “Ciné-Télé-Revue”, he announces that he is saying goodbye to the private channel. He joined her in May 2011. He will have officiated there for 8 seasons in total after being one of the star presenters of RTBF, let’s also remember.

He also announced the news on his Instagram account. “So it’s official: I won’t be coming back to RTL-TVI and Bel RTL. In any case, not immediately … There is, for the moment, no project in which I could subscribe. A nasty virus has passed by. But there is neither bitterness nor regrets. True mutual respect. And wonderful memories that fill my heart. How important it is for me to say goodbye and especially THANK YOU. (…) Because nothing could have been done without you … “

One last goodbye this weekend: “I am at peace”

The former host of Tout explicait – today taken up by Maria Del Rio – will reveal everything in the Ciné Télé Revue of tomorrow and will repeat several passages on the private channel this weekend to bid farewell and explain his choice. “RTL has the elegance and the kindness to invite me in the morning of Bel RTL this Friday morning, to the presentation of the last issue of Belgians at home Friday evening at 7:50 pm on RTL-TVI and on the microphone of Sandrine Dans in Les musiques of my life this Sunday at 12 noon. Because nothing could have been done without you … I’m at peace. Thank you. ”

This is of course no surprise to anyone since just a year ago the host decided to take a gap year. And, already at the time, it seemed obvious to almost all of his colleagues, and almost all of the profession too, that he would not return to the air afterwards.

The explanations from last year are probably still relevant. There is the age (51 years) which makes us consider time differently. But there was especially the death of his little sister – Zoé died of a ruptured aneurysm at the age of barely 39 years old – an unjust death which deeply marked him and which even plunged him into deep and difficult mourning.

In the midst of working on himself, Van Hamme also had to realize that the immense need for recognition that he felt when he was young has faded over the years – but that is not necessarily a bad thing. , far from there. Add that the evolution of his profession, with a media world that is really changing, also plunged him into a maelstrom of questions.

Time for reflection

In short, during what was to be a career break, Thomas had time to think. He also had the ambition to reach out to the people he loves and who need him, and also to devote time to volunteering and humanitarian missions, especially in India. The humanitarian trip had to be shortened a bit … But maybe it was mainly about knowing what he wanted to do with the rest of his life? “There,” he explains, “I have no plans at the moment to join. A nasty virus has passed by. But there is neither bitterness nor regrets with RTL which has the elegance of elsewhere to invite me in the morning of Bel RTL this Friday morning with Sandrine Dans “.

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