No one had mentioned his name during the campaign. He mentioned it himself in public, casually, during an interview. “Yes”, Thibaud Delapart, aka “Tibo InShape”, would agree to become Minister of Sports, if a party were to propose it to him after the legislative elections. The videographer, France’s leading YouTuber, would gladly take on a role in the next government, he told Brut on June 22, without being asked the question. No joke, I promise.
The young man, known for his jokes and his ability to push huge amounts of iron, squeezed into a minister’s suit, in the official photos of the Elysée? No candidate has called for him. But the position taken by the Internet star, all muscles, has not gone unnoticed: these few words were enough to get him talked about in a dozen newspapers. A coverage that many party leaders would dream of.
The person concerned was careful not to clarify his thoughts, and did not say whether this was a real attempt to position himself in the race, or a simple communication operation. He did not respond to our interview requests. But two days after his interview, and two weeks before the arrival of a new government, he relaunched the idea on his social networks, asking his audience: “Tomorrow, you become Minister of Sports, what are your measures?”
Hanouna’s influence, Schwarzenegger’s biceps
Minister, the Internet troublemaker is not yet one. But Tibo InShape already has the makings of a king. At 32, the videographer has established himself as the most popular content creator of the moment. His channel, where he filmed himself doing push-ups in his teenage bedroom, now garners billions of views each year. The influence of a Cyril Hanouna, the biceps of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The American actor has had a career in politics, so why not him?
The athlete with the back as wide as it is long has already spoken about his desire to be part of the executive to the 20 million Internet users who follow him on YouTube. At first, in a humorous tone, then more and more seriously. In 2018, he boasted about the fact that he was giving himself “five years” to reach these responsibilities. On July 8, the day after the legislative elections, that will be six. “Anything is possible,” he likes to repeat in his videos. This is also true about the future government.
Asked about his political preferences – because yes, the interview for Brut went that far – the person concerned did not rule out any party. But in the wake of his statements, he also confirmed that his heart leans to the right. On his X account (ex-Twitter), a French flag is enthroned. He also hung an XXL one in his personal gym in Albi (Tarn), the town where he grew up. A sign, said Internet users, who for months have been trying to find out more about his political preferences.
From a patriotic right
Not enough to make him a supporter of the “extreme right”, the person concerned retorts when asked. Doesn’t he find the streets “safer enough”? Wouldn’t he like the French to be more “patriotic”, he who allows himself to make fun of “non-gendered” people in little sketches? And what if Marine Le Pen offered him to join a government led by Jordan Bardella, Brut asked him, in the rest of the sequence? “Very good question. We’ll talk about it again. It’s not planned for the moment”, he evaded.
Has the message reached Jordan Bardella? He refuses to name those he would like at his side if he became Prime Minister. Tibo InShape’s appeals will therefore remain, for the moment, a dead letter. It is still difficult to imagine him being part of the final selection: the National Rally already has a “Mr. Sportsman”, Aleksandar Nikolic, who has taken care of drafting a few proposals. The fact remains that a personality as popular as him would be an interesting catch, even if he would undoubtedly have the disadvantage of appearing a little too light for part of Marine Le Pen’s electorate.
The videographer has ended up putting on a tie over time. But when he started out, ten years ago, he never stopped making people talk about him – by any means possible. His first creations? Tutorials for gaining muscle mass, sprinkled with dirty jokes. Once, he pretended to masturbate in public; another, he mimed an erection. Women were “little ones” to him, and for a very long time he signed his autographs directly on their chests. In 2017, he organized a beauty pageant. The winner won the right to become his girlfriend. Her name is Juju Fitcats, a bodybuilding influencer, too. They are still together.
Should a minister say that?
Journalists unearth old Facebook posts from the young troublemaker, on a personal account, in 2019. “A black man re-elected, gay marriage adopted. It won’t be an easy day,” we can read there. Or again: “Sometimes when I’m angry I have fun throwing pork chops at Muslims.” A youthful mistake, he pleads. He attributes these slip-ups to an attack he was the victim of in 2009. Three men beat him up in an alley. After the incident, he claims to have long seen “evil everywhere.”
Can a minister say that? “I am truly sincerely sorry if I have hurt people who have seen these messages […] There are idiots everywhere, of all colors, of all origins,” he ended up apologizing in a video in 2022. In the meantime, he has become professional. On his main channel, bodybuilding has gradually given way to more general content. We see him everywhere. On the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. In a 2,000 mirage above Paris on July 14. Olympic flame bearer, on his native land.
A boom that he owes in part to Emmanuel Macron’s camp. Gabriel Attal went to see him for a promotional video for the universal national service. Nicole Belloubet, too, when she was Minister of Justice, to try to improve the image of the police. Her channel is transformed into a real television show, with interviews, reports. Almost “infotainment”, this mixture of information and entertainment. Except that most of his videos are very often sponsored by the people and structures he highlights. What he sells as an “infiltration”, at Lidl for example, is nothing other than an advertisement for the company. Journalist no, influencer, yes.
The sports coach of a generation
He is far away, the Tibo InShape of the beginnings, embarrassed, a little ashamed, unpretentious. In his videos, he now says “he can bring a lot to France”. On the sporting level, at least. He was one of the first in France to film himself during his sports sessions, to give his opinion, to recommend all sorts of exercises, movements, diets. He still does it, on his secondary channel, Tibo InShape TrainingWith his stature, his advice is definitely worth gold in the eyes of his fans.
The athlete has become, in fact, the virtual “sports coach” of a whole generation of young people who did not know aerobics on television. But On screen, the industry standards aren’t always met. He sometimes recommends doing sit-ups to lose belly fat – which doesn’t work, because physical activity causes fat loss throughout the body, not just near the affected muscles. He sometimes does very long series of movements – which is not recommended, because it can cause injury.
Some practitioners, and sometimes also his competitors, point out to him that he could check the recommendations in force before publishing such content. “Every time he is criticized, he replies that his only ambition is to motivate, nothing more,” comments Mathias Soulhol, sports instructor and also a videographer. The two crossed paths in Albi, but have not spoken for a long time. “Everything is based on his personal experience. He tests it, and advises to do the same. It’s a bit easy,” regrets the trainer.
Hurtful words
In June 2022, he fell out with many doctors for his statements on depression: “Wake up, you fucking shit, don’t give a damn about your depression, don’t give a damn about your excuses, don’t give a damn about your little broken heart.” […] ; get up now, right away!” he exhorts, in a content. Depressives, idlers who would only have to make an effort to get better? “That is precisely impossible”, gets annoyed Bruno Aouizerate, psychiatrist in Bordeaux.
The video might seem harmless, but not to specialists. “Depression alters the reward system in the brain. It causes a lack of desire, motivation, and motor initiative. It’s not that depressed people don’t want to, it’s that they can’t. It’s as if you had a fracture and I asked you to walk. These stereotypes are very harmful to mental health,” regrets the caregiver.
Barely two months later, another blunder. In a post published on the social network X (ex-Twitter), he declares: “No, telling someone obese […] that he must pull himself together […] It’s not being fatphobic, it’s wanting to help them.” Enough, this time, to alienate the National League against Obesity, and many patients and scientists. “There are many aspects over which obese people have no control,” recalls Gilles Mithieux, a researcher at the CNRS. Minister, really?
“He should take responsibility”
Sport is good for your health, from depression to obesity, but it is not enough to push yourself to do it. Many other factors, genetic and physiological, come into play in these pathologies: “With weight gain, the body develops a resistance to satiety hormones, such as leptin for example. The bigger you get, the hungrier you are”, underlines Gilles Mithieux. “All this is part of a much more complex process than going for a run”, continues the specialist. Minister perhaps, but not everyone can be a therapist.
It took the person concerned a while to apologize. He did so in February 2024: “Not everyone liked being motivated by being yelled at.” He blames his mistakes on the lack of proofreaders in his team. But he doesn’t say anywhere that he’s going to recruit some. “With more than 20 million subscribers, we are far from the bedroom phenomenon. He should take his responsibilities, as we would expect from a major television channel, and surround himself with scientific advisors,” complains Ghaïs Guelaïa, a sports coach, also online. He suggested the idea to him on numerous occasions. Without response, he too.
This videographer, who specializes in critical content on sports, is convinced of it: “I’m sure he doesn’t have bad intentions. But his primary logic is above all to grow his business.” In March 2024, the YouTube star finally backtracked: “I totally accept it,” he now says about his statements on depression. Not yet a minister, but already wooden language? In the interview where Tibo InShape revealed his ambitions, the Brut journalist asked him if there wasn’t a part of cynicism in him, a sense of buzz that could explain his deviations. Answer: “Not on all subjects.”
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