Ten years have passed. On March 29, 2016, Jean-Pierre Coffe passed away at the age of 78 after suffering a heart attack. In his final moments, the TV host could rely on the support of his partner, Christophe Dolbeau. In a previous interview with Gala, the writer opened up about his complicated grief: “I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t turn on the radio or the TV. I lived through hell for months, couldn’t leave my house,” he revealed. This March 29, 2026, marks the tenth anniversary of Jean-Pierre Coffe’s death. His partner wanted to share the final hours of the former key figure on Les Grosses Têtes. “He passed away peacefully. He succeeded in life, but he also succeeded in death. His biggest fear was becoming bedridden, having a stroke, being pushed in a wheelchair… He didn’t experience that. He passed away suddenly, without the problems associated with old age,” he shared with Gala.
“I had no idea what I was going to experience that night”: Christophe talks about the last moments of his partner Jean-Pierre Coffe. Despite everything, Christophe remains deeply affected by the final moments shared with his partner, who was “doing very well” until Easter weekend. Then, Jean-Pierre Coffe’s health deteriorated gradually. “He first said ‘Goodnight’ to me, then called me saying he didn’t feel well and had a heart attack. I had no idea what I was going to experience that night,” Christophe recalled. He still lives in Saint-Denis-Lanneray where the gastronome’s ashes were scattered. Ten years later, Christophe explains how he managed to overcome this tragedy: thanks to the passion for gardening that he shared with his partner. “When you spend six hours a day doing it, you don’t think about anything else, you work. It’s a form of therapy,” he noted, before revealing all he has accomplished in the past 10 years: “I take care of it (the garden), make it beautiful, organize visits. I also opened a guesthouse. I keep the house alive as before.” In fact, in the final years of his partner’s life, Christophe was already responsible for maintaining their house since the gastronome was mostly in Paris.
“He could be quite stubborn at times”: Christophe pays tribute to Jean-Pierre Coffe. Today, Christophe continues to honor the memory of his partner whom he describes as follows: “He might have been a little less vehement, but he knew how to assert himself. We had a great connection, understood each other without needing to speak. He could be quite stubborn, but with a twinkle in his eye. When he said ‘No, that’s not true,’ it meant ‘Yes, you’re right.’ It was very funny,” he reminisced. Always very determined, Jean-Pierre Coffe had even challenged his partner before his passing: “Before leaving, Jean-Pierre made a remark in true Coffe style, telling me, ‘If something happens to me, you’ll never be able to keep this house.’ It was a way to motivate me to succeed, a challenge that was very much achieved!”
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