TV host Réal Giguère - why Quebecers obsessed over his private life

    Recently-deceased Montrealer Réal Giguère, one of the most familiar faces on the small screen for decades, became the focus of obsession in Quebec, as his name was endlessly raised in connection to scurrilous rumours concerning his sexual peccadilloes.
   Unlike English-speaking Canadians, francophone Quebec take their locally-produced TV fare seriously, as viewership numbers attest.
   Quebecers are not generally prudish but they proved endlessly fascinated by rumours of Giguere's sexual activities.
    Some jokingly took to referring to him as Regal Digere, royal digestion, in reference to rumours about an enthusiastic habit of digesting certain substances that are not usually eaten.
   Giguere was major icon in his day as he hosted a talk show until a clash with brass led him to quit in 1979.
   His influence declined until about 1999 when he disappeared into obscurity, offering only the occasional interview. He died Feb. 11, 2019 at the age of 85.
    One account suggests that recorded phone calls from the 1960s and 1970s might shed light on what some consider an enduring mystery.
   From the 1960s Montrealer Bobby White, who died in 2016, served up cocaine and women from his bar Whitey's Hideaway. White later operated something he called the West End Sports Association.
   White was known to keep tape recordings of all of his phone calls from clients ordering women.
   Sports figures, politicians, lawyers and many other prominent Montrealers would phone White to match him with a woman who could offer services that corresponded with their sexual specifications.
   White's meticulously-maintained recordings apparently included calls for escorts emanating from a certain TV celebrity..
   A friend of Coolopolis familiar with the tapes notes that "one of them did perverted things to Real Giguere."
   What Giguere did in his private moments with other consenting adults is nobody's business but his own, of course. We at Coolopolis have no intention of shaming anybody for pursuing fringe activities, as long as they don't harm others.
   The endless curiosity Quebecers had for his activities says more about the Quebec media landscape than it does about the beloved TV icon Giguere.