Laurent Ruquier

Laurent Hugues Emmanuel Ruquier (born 24 February 1963) is a French television presenter, radio host and comedian. He is also a lyricist, writer, columnist and impresario; he has been co-owner and general manager of Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau in Paris since 2011. He is best known for hosting the On n'est pas couché show on France 2 every Saturday evening from 2006 to 2020. Ruquier grew up in a large family of modest means, the second of five siblings.

His father, Roger Ruquier, now deceased, was a boilermaker at construction sites in Le Havre and his mother, Raymonde Ruquier (1924-September 2015), was a housewife. In high school, Laurent entertained his friends by publishing his first satires in the school newspaper. At first he studied accounting (he obtained a DEUG in Economic and Social Administration (AES) at the Le Havre site of the University of Rouen and a Diploma from the Institute of Technology (DUT) in Business Management and Training administration (GEA). He also attended a course in Constitutional Law given by Patrice Gélard.

Upon the advice of the latter, he finally turned to humour. In 1986, he did 21 months of military service as a conscientious objector at the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs. His mentor was Pierre Doris, whose black humour he was particularly fond of.