"We say yes" Ralf Schumacher on marriage, coming out and his new life
Two years ago, Ralf Schumacher made his relationship with Étienne Bousquet-Cassagne public and announced his coming out. Now the couple are getting married and talking about coming out, wedding planning and honeymoons.
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- Two years after coming out and making his relationship public, former Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher marries his partner Étienne Bousquet-Cassagne.
- The wedding takes place in Saint Tropez and is accompanied by camera crews.
- In the four-part series "Ralf & Étienne: We say yes" starting Thursday, May 21 (4 episodes, 8.15 p.m., Sky and WOW), both the celebration and the couple's planning and everyday life together can be seen.
- In an interview, the couple reveal why Schumacher and Bousquet-Cassagne are trying to pre-empt prejudices and what they have planned for their wedding.
Ralf Schumacher and Étienne Bousquet-Cassagne, why did you decide to have the wedding covered by cameras?
Bousquet-Cassagne: Ralf posted a photo at the time and made our relationship public. We then received several requests. Because Ralf was already working with Sky and we liked the project, we said yes. At first it was a bit strange to be accompanied by the cameras, but we got used to it.
You certainly set yourself limits.
Bousquet-Cassagne: Everything was respected and it was clear to us that we would show almost everything and we did show everything.
Schumacher: The reason is also that it gives us another opportunity to show how we live - and perhaps also to prevent one or two prejudices.
When you made your relationship public, it was also your coming out, Mr. Schumacher. How did you perceive the public reaction at the time?
Schumacher: I have to be honest, it was entirely positive. Of course, I don't read every comment - I don't think you should either. But of course we also live in places where people are probably a bit more open-minded. I think that's why we only receive positive comments.
Does a celebrity like you always have a pioneering role to play?
Schumacher: Many individual encounters where people have said thank you have been nice. Men who come up and say: "Thank you very much. I dared to say that to my family" or "I've now taken the next step." But that was never my wish, I originally wanted to do it completely "selfishly" for both of us and simply deal with the situation openly and honestly. But if you can still support one or the other a little, that's nice of course. And maybe the documentary will help us do that a little.
Were there any particular challenges during the wedding planning? What can TV viewers expect?
Schumacher: A bit of everything. So really private insights in the sense of "Where do we come from?", the topic of childhood, but logically also everything around the wedding - and all of that alongside our other professional activities. All the planning, preparation, creating the guest list and so on ... It's a bit of a challenge when things change again and there's one more or one less. And then, of course, there are these wonderful three days to top it all off.
You've already mentioned in the documentary that there was no "classic engagement". Was there nevertheless a special moment when it was clear: "We want to get married"?
Bousquet-Cassagne: We always talked about it, it was never taboo. But we were still in doubt as to whether we wanted to celebrate in South Africa or in the south of France. We then decided on the south of France because it is easier for our guests to reach. Last year, we made an appointment with the mayor of Saint-Tropez. She helped us a lot with the organization and can also be seen in the series. And then we finally set a date.
Schumacher: But there wasn't that one romantic moment when we would have made a classic proposal.
Ralf Schumacher, this is the second wedding for you. Do you experience such a moment differently today? Are you more relaxed?
Schumacher: I think it's more relaxed for me in the sense that I know exactly what to expect. I've resolved to try and enjoy the party and focus less on whether everyone around me likes it. In our case, we have guests from all over the world, so you always feel a bit responsible and want to make it extra special. But on the other hand, it's our day and I think it will be nice enough. That's my plan for the evening: to concentrate on us and just enjoy the atmosphere.
The wedding reception will last three days. Are you going on your honeymoon afterwards?
Schumacher: We generally travel a lot. But yes, we will be going on a honeymoon. We just don't know exactly when yet. To be honest, it's not quite fixed yet.
Bousquet-Cassagne: Perhaps in August or November.
Could you imagine doing more TV projects together in the future?
Schumacher: To be honest, it's a lot of fun. Being accompanied by the camera for the first two days was a bit unusual. But since we're making a documentary where people are really following us, it's all totally authentic. Nothing is repeated or staged. That's fun. So yes, we could already imagine further projects. We first want to see if the viewers like it, that's always the most important thing. But we definitely already have a few ideas.
Apart from that, we still have a professionally filmed wedding video.
Schumacher: Yes, that's the nice thing: if this evening and this time is accompanied by a film crew, we'll have something that we can watch for the rest of our lives and hopefully laugh about in 20 years' time.