Ouest France: "Apolline de Malherbe, an outspoken morning voice".

Apolline de Malherbe, journalist and presenter on RMC and BFM TV: "A rhythm that demands sacrifice". Photo: Stéphane Geufroi, Ouest France.

" My days consist of feeling things coming up. I take notes, right up to the last moment. " It's 4:30 p.m. in a Parisian café near Bastille. Demonstration: Apolline de Malherbe shows us her smartphone, scrolling through endless memos, ideas for subjects, guests... "The only time I pick up the phone is when I'm asleep.

Her alarm goes off at around 4am. She heads for BFMTV headquarters in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, where the 44-year-old journalist first takes to the airwaves on RMC, from 6am to 8:30am. Then, during a commercial break, "I run down the corridor and get to Face à face ", her major interview with a politician, broadcast on RMC and BFMTV.

She finishes with a new slot launched in January on the all-news channel: Apolline de 9 à 10, a news talk-show with columnists. It's a rhythm that demands sacrifice and discipline," she explains. And as it's a job that relies a lot on my energy, I have to be totally attentive to the moment; faced with a political figure, I can't afford to be vague. "

At 10pm, if Apolline de Malherbe isn't in bed, she pays cash the next day. Gone are the cultural outings and glasses of wine with friends. " I've had to give them up. I make up for it on weekends. But I have four children aged from 6 to 18: even if I had more flexible hours, I wouldn't go out much! " she says with a smile.

Her interest in political journalism came from her grandfather, Armand de Malherbe, " general councillor and mayor for over forty years of the village of Marçon, in the Sarthe ". She has fond memories of election evenings, " when victories were celebrated in the winegrowers' cellars. I was 6 years old, I was in a small corner, but I thought it was great ".

The only journalist in the de Malherbe family, which tended to be made up of artists and politicians, she took her first steps in an editorial office in... Ouest-France, the summer she turned 19. " I was highly motivated and took my driving test on purpose, to make sure I could do my internship at the Le Mans newsroom in the Sarthe region.

Apolline de Malherbe, who grew up without television, never thought she'd find herself on the small screen. " My grandfather gave me one for my 15th birthday. I used to listen to Pascale Clark's press review. Although she didn't go to journalism school, she did follow a rich academic path: khâgne, a master's degree in literature, Sciences Po, political sociology... " I wanted to know the world.

In 2007, she joined BFM, " a summer job as a programmer ". Barely a year later, she left to set up a BFMTV studio in the United States from scratch. She was also a pioneer when, in 2020, she became the first woman journalist to head a morning show alone. A few years later, this is still the case. " I'm surprised to see that. I wish there were more! "

On the subject of her predecessor Jean-Jacques Bourdin, she is full of praise. " I've always admired his frankness, " she says. Without seeking comparison: " I never wanted to be Bourdin. I wouldn't have known anyway. I never seek clash, but if it happens, I'm not going to shy away. "

Her outspoken style is often criticized by her detractors: aggressive, overconfident ... ? " When you're up against politicians and very powerful people, you have to have some kind of confidence in your ability to stand up to the shock, because it's a shock. Every morning, these are moments of great tension. "

The journalist also drew on her experience in Washington. She is inspired by the style of American journalists who combine information and entertainment, such as George Stephanopoulos, star of ABC's morning show Good Morning America. " I like the out-of-the-box approach, where you don't lock a journalist into a specialty. "

The takeover of BFMTV and RMC, in 2024, by billionaire CMA CGM group owner Rodolphe Saadé, has "not changed" her daily routine. " I started under Alain Weil, then Patrick Drahi, then Rodolphe Saadé: the freedom I enjoy and the work I do haven't changed ," she says, shrugging her shoulders. Nor are they worried about the rise of rival channel CNews. " Until 9 a.m., I have the honor of being France's leading channel every day.

While she " loves working live ", the journalist is now also experimenting with documentaries. In mid-January, she launched her Apolfine chez vous program on RMC Story, broadcast as a special event on Saturdays, where she visits the homes of prominent listeners of her RMC morning show. A new exercise for Apolline de Malherbe. " Constantly improving " is very important to her. " Over the past ten years, I've gained in strength and self-confidence. But I hope I've kept the same spontaneity.

Read the article on www.ouest-france.fr

By Elvire Simon.

Published February 12, 2025

1980. Born in Paris on March 21.

2007. Programmer at BFM Radio.

2008. BFMTV correspondent in Washington (USA), until 2011. She covered the election of Barack Obama and the DSK affair.

2020. Presenter of Apolline Matin from 6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on RMC, replacing Bourdin Direct.
2022. She also takes over the 8:30 political interview, after the ousting of Jean-Jacques Bourdin.

2025. Launch of Apolline de 9 à 10 on BFMTV and Apolline chez vous on RMC Story.

Apolline de 9 à 10 is not a magazine, " but a daily program anchored in the news of the day ". On the set, the journalist is surrounded by columnists and editorialists such as Laurent Neumann and Emmanuel Lechypre. " I only want people around me who are very competent in their field, whose words are solid, and who are also very nice and with whom I could go hiking! The aim of this slot: " To offer a different rhythm to the 6 a.m. morning show. Now that the heat is off, we're allowing ourselves a little more freedom to live and breathe.

Although Apolline de Malherbe was born and raised in Paris, she retains a strong attachment to the Sarthe region, where her paternal family originated. " I go there regularly. That's where I'm from. " Her father Guy de Malherbe, a painter, and her mother Marie-Hélène de La Forest Divonne, a gallery owner, have owned the château de Poncé-surie-Loir (Sarthe) for some ten years. One of the journalist's distant ancestors was the poet François de Malherbe, one of the reformers of the French language. Apolline de Malherbe has also been named " chevalière de la Puette et du Franc-Pinot ", a brotherhood of winegrowers from the Jasnières PDO in the Sarthe region.