A new 21-year-old champion is winning everything in the 12 strokes of noon on TF1, with a gigantic prize pool. To the point that we wonder if TF1 will continue to follow it…
We thought Christian Quesada had reached the ultimate level of participation and winnings. Then there was Paul, then Bruno… Les 12 coups de midi, the flagship midday game on TF1, is currently experiencing a new significant page in its long history, with a candidate who could well crush all records once again, before the eyes of millions of viewers. Emilien, a 21-year-old history student, a veritable living encyclopedia, has undisputedly dominated the field for more than seven months now. His victories, and therefore his successive qualifications in the game, have even raised his prize pool to an almost unprecedented level.
Since his first appearance in the game on September 25, 2023, Emilien has indeed accumulated victories, forcing him to suspend his history studies in Toulouse. And his prize pool has already reached dizzying heights. This amounted to almost a million euros at the end of April (954,744 euros at the last count, at the time of writing these lines). Jean-Luc Reichmann also noted this week that the champion had allowed the common prize pool to break a record of 1,204,700 euros. Emilien is now hot on the heels of Bruno Hourcade, who, in 2021, was the first candidate to pass the million euros in winnings.
Emilien, now aware of his potential to beat Bruno’s record, remains humble and focused. “Records are made to be broken whatever happens. That doesn’t take anything away from my career. That is to say that even if I am not number 1, I am still the first who made all that. I would still have been a record holder for a while, and above all, it doesn’t take away the money I earned,” he declared.
The Emilien phenomenon is in any case starting to go beyond the circle of fans of the game. And the question is obviously the same for all those who are passionate about this extraordinary journey: how far will Emilien go and up to what level of earnings TF1 can -she go ?
Emilien’s prize pool in the 12 strokes of noon is indeed enough to turn heads. Jean-Luc Reichmann even had fun with it last Friday by simulating his concern and that of the management of TF1 itself. “I find it completely crazy what’s happening. It’s crazy, it’s even starting to escape us, we talk about it with the senior management of TF1 and we say to ourselves: ‘but when is it going to happen?’ stop?'”, he falsely questioned…
The situation even pushed the veteran host to make a daring bet with Emilien, symbolically betting that he would lose his position because of the amount won by the young prodigy on the outcome of the upcoming games. A touch of humor which clearly illustrates the extent of the phenomenon. Jean-Luc Reichmann was indeed present the next day to continue to lead the game. With Emilien still in front of him.