Have you already brought your son Matteo to the stadium?
“Moreover! I moved the family to Florence when, leaving kindergarten, she asked me if she could support Roma a bit too.”
The footballer of all time?
«Picchio De Sisti, n. 10 of the second scudetto, in ’69”.
The coach?
«Pegs. Because he knew how to manage the locker room after Astori’s death, acting as a psychologist and a friend.”
The next championship?
«The good game is enough for us. Also because we Florentines invented football.”
Carlo Conti he has a fresh smile, spontaneous generosity and a Christian Democratic inclination which, if you point it out to him, annoys him a little. It’s impossible to make him complain about anything, to hear him say one word too many about someone. He also smiles with his eyes and he is delighted with the success of the dishes we share in the historic trattoria he chose in Florence: truffle omelette, ribollita, tomato soup, bean puree with spelled and a slice of fillet; basically, the cholesterol festival.
What if I tell you Giuseppe?
«The father of Jesus».
I was thinking about his.
«He died of lung cancer when I was 18 months old. I only have one photo of him, from his first birthday: him holding me and smiling. They tell me he is a very tall, very elegant, very funny, very Florentine gentleman.”
She took after him, then.
“But I love keeping to myself, beyond my public role.”
What if I tell her Lolette?
«The image of strength, Hercules made woman. Extremely determined, severe, she managed to raise me as a father and mother without even having the eyes to cry. Now that I’m a parent, I appreciate her efforts even more.”
The first important gift he gave her?
“The House. Before, we lived in a rented two-room apartment in Via Vittorio, a place we loved.”
The last slap?
«For her the saying was valid: as I have done you I will undo you! She passed away in August 2002 and until the end she was capable of vigorously scolding me if perhaps I told her I was calling her and then didn’t.”
He has seen successful programs, from «Good luck!» to «Domenica in», but lost others. Which one are you sorry about?
«And who says he lost them? The only regret is for the best show: Matteo.”
Francesca?
«My wife, a giant red heart. She’s a stylist. We never argue.”
But that’s not possible! Doesn’t he get angry at work either?
«It’s impossible at work! Isn’t a guest coming? Patience. I’m used to making an omelette with the eggs I have.”
Nothing makes you impatient?
«The rudeness. If someone walks on the wet floor where the lady has just mopped…”.
Oh well… Would you have wanted a little sister for Matteo?
«Yes, but it hasn’t arrived. He was already a miracle. The name means gift of God.”
And have you never thought about adoption?
«Yes, but we should have done it while Matteo was little. Then we became too big.”
Does anyone say no to him?
«Of course, this morning too. To go to school she wanted to wear a pair of very expensive sneakers. But I don’t like you flaunting things in front of friends who maybe can’t afford them.”
Do you ask them for autographs for your teammates?
“Yes, he has started.”
The first time you took him fishing?
«He was two years old, we went to the fishermen’s cooperative in Orbetello: it was impossible not to catch something».
And the scooter?
«It’s early, but I would like to make the same deal with him as between me and my mother: no scooter, but a car at 18. Maybe I’ll get him a toy car that can be driven at the age of 16.”
On May 3rd he will again present the David di Donatello evening, alongside Alessia Marcuzzi. Was it you who didn’t want Geppi Cucciari?
«But why are you putting me in the middle? In this period there is a witch-hunt climate. Today everything is exploited, with the complicity of social media. See the Scurati case.”
Well, there was little to exploit there. It was good censorship.
«A crazy own goal. How many would have seen him if he had been on the air? But there are those who are more realistic than the king.”
Will he ask for a raise after Amadeus’s departure?
“It does not work like that. But I’m happy. In 2025 I will turn 40 years in Rai. For me, at every renewal it is important that in addition to the driver there is the car. So far they have believed in me. Then, never say never: there is no certainty about tomorrow.”
He hosted Sanremo 2015-16-17. Wouldn’t another treble be nice: 2025-26-27?
“I don’t know if I still have the right musical ear.”
Doesn’t that 74.1 percent share achieved by Amadeus scare you?
«But I could never replicate it, I wouldn’t arrive at 2 in the morning (laughs, ed)! Amadeus did a great job, but you can’t think about precedents, otherwise after Baudo no one would have had to do it anymore.”
And you don’t want a medal for Sanremo?
«The Festival has returned to its old glories. Some say it was my parents who started it again. I don’t take these credits: the only one is having been lucky enough to find Mahmood, Irama, Gabbani and Ermal Meta, Nigiotti, Caccamo among the new proposals”.
No women.
«I regret it. But I wanted women on stage, starting from Maria De Filippi».
A program that isn’t yours that you would like to host?
«You’ve Got Mail. I wouldn’t be able to do it: she’s perfect.”
Which are you most proud of?
“Perhaps The best yearsalso sold abroad.”
The giggling live?
«Yes, when a Yesterday and today I invited Leonardo Pieraccioni and Giorgio Panariello and Giorgio didn’t remember the title of the book he was supposed to promote.”
Miss Italy?
«The contest has been demonized for nothing, it exists all over the world: it is a beauty contest that demonstrated how the contestants had many other talents. But I could no longer lead him: make way for the young.”
Do you get excited at work?
“Always. I think about when I hosted Gloria Gaynor, who then tagged me on Instagram. She to me! Or at the Spandau Ballet reunion at my Festival: as a young DJ I went to Sanremo with my orange 127, hoping for some jokes for the radio.”
Myths that you dream of meeting?
«Pink Floyd and Vasco Rossi».
He could invite them.
«But do you know how much it costs to reunite and have Pink Floyd come?».
With Vasco it’s easier.
“And how do I do this? I go to Zocca and ring the bell: “Hi Vasco, do you want to have a chat?”. Why not?
