It’s brutal. Then it’s grieving.
Patricia Paquin stopped by the brand-new podcast On vide notre sac, hosted by her former radio colleague and friend Anaïs Favron. True to the concept, as the title suggests, the two close collaborators laid it all out on a wide range of topics that are especially compelling.
From the opening minutes of the episode, the host invited her co-host to revisit a topic that sparked a lot of chatter: her dismissal from the airwaves at Rythme FM.
Recall that in August 2024, Patricia Paquin announced on her social media that she had been let go from the show Les Filles du lunch, which she co-hosted with Marie-Ève Janvier. The news generated a strong reaction, particularly because the decision was reportedly communicated to her in a rather abrupt manner, while she believed she would be back: a contract had been signed, and the firing was confirmed just before her return to the airwaves.
A Look at the Situation, as Patricia Describes It
“It can happen in any field, you know: a factory closing, layoffs… It remains that there’s a violence in it. There’s violence because it’s your daily life, it’s your friends. You know, how many people are told at the end of the day: Well, that was your last day. HR will help you pack your things into a small box and you’ll leave this building right now, while you haven’t even said hello to your coworkers, while you haven’t had a chance to savor your last moments. It’s violent. And it’s a mourning. And for me, that year there had been a lot of mourning. So that’s what I take from it: it was brutal,” she recalls, as Anaïs asks her to spell out how it unfolded.
“It was my manager who called me. I was coming out of the pool at Walt Disney, and I saw I had a message on Friday, around five o’clock in the evening… I looked at my friend and thought: This is either very good news or very bad news, instinctively. And I called, and indeed she said: ‘Well Patricia, I’m telling you that by Monday you won’t be back on the radio, it’s over.’ And you’re like: ‘Oh, okay,’” she remembers.
A Not-So-Delicate Way of Doing Things?
“No matter who replaces you, whatever happens, the result is the same: you don’t go back the following Monday. And I was on vacation, I was with my family at Disney… it’s Disney magic. I still had two days left because I was coming back on Sunday, so I didn’t want to let it get to me. And, most of all, I’m here with my family and friends to unplug from a tough year and to say thank you to my kids, to my partner for having been there. It’s like a gift I’m giving to my world… And that’s how it ends,” Paquin says, though she concedes she understands the business side of it.
“For me, it’s always about how things are done. You can’t tell me, a month before, at my parents’ funeral, to send flowers and say We’re here for you, and then a month later slam the door in my face. It’s brutal… After that, no one talks to me anymore. I couldn’t speak to anyone: not the hosts, not Marie-Ève, but the people at the station, no one called to say: Hey, that’s rough, huh. Dang, this doesn’t end well,” she explains.
Loved by listeners, industry peers, and the public, Patricia says she received a flood of messages in the wake of the announcement—a genuine wave of support and affection.
Would She Have Wanted Her Colleagues to Walk Out With Her?
The host then asked whether, having herself already walked away from a role following cuts she disagreed with, she would have secretly wished that everyone else had left too, noting that it’s not something everyone can afford to do.
“Oh no, no, no, no… we’re all freelancers; we need to work. It’s a passion too, you know, when you’re in communications,” she says.
“But would you have been happy,” pressed Anaïs.
“Well, I would have found it grand… Happy, I’m not sure, but it would have been a move a bit over the top. You see, in our line of work, this can happen… No, I never dreamed of that… It would have been truly spectacular as a publicity stunt,” Patricia reiterates.
According to Anaïs, such a decision would have sparked a real internal ripple: everyone would have reacted, with the sense that the once tight-knit group no longer truly existed.
As a reminder, since Patricia’s departure, Maripier Morin has taken her place. Marie-Ève Janvier later had to step away for a professional break to take care of herself, and it is Sébastien Benoit who is currently hosting in her absence.
We wish Patricia all the best as she moves forward.
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