Louise Deschâtelets has spent more than five decades as one of Quebec’s most trusted public figures, moving from acting and hosting into a role as the province’s go-to voice for matters of the heart. People searching for Louise Deschâtelets age and her past separation are often curious about how someone with such a public career managed a painful divorce and came out the other side. This article covers her background, her age today, and the separation she has spoken about candidly in recent interviews.
Who Is Louise Deschâtelets?
Louise Deschâtelets is a Quebec actress, television host, and advice columnist born on October 28, 1945, in Montreal. She has built a career that spans theatre, television, radio, and print, and she remains one of the province’s most recognizable media personalities.
A Modest Rosemont Childhood
Deschâtelets grew up in Montreal’s Rosemont neighbourhood in a modest household with her parents, Maurice and Juliette, and her brother, Michel. Her father died when she was only nine years old, an early loss she has referenced in interviews about her outlook on life. She has also noted that her surname is written as one word with two capital letters, DesChâtelets, rather than a French noble particle, correcting a common misconception about her name.
Youngest President of the Union des Artistes
Deschâtelets became the youngest president of the Union des artistes, Quebec’s performers’ union, serving from 1980 to 1983. That leadership role, taken on early in her career, speaks to the respect she earned from her peers well before she became a household name through television.
Her acting credits include the long-running téléroman Ent’Cadieux, which ran from 1993 to 1999, along with Chambres en ville, Virginie, Les Ex, and Peau de banane. On stage, she has taken on roles in productions including Coco Chatel, C’est ma vie, Le Dîner de cons, and Les Femmes savantes, showing the same range in theatre that she brought to television.
Louise Deschâtelets Age: A Career Spanning Six Decades
As of 2026, Louise Deschâtelets is 80 years old, having marked that milestone birthday in October 2025. Few Quebec entertainers have maintained this level of public visibility across six decades of work, and she has spoken openly about her mixed feelings on aging.
In one interview reflecting on her career, she described having a love-hate relationship with getting older, admitting that while youth feels ideal, time passes faster than anyone expects. That honesty is part of what has made her advice column so relatable to readers for over two decades.
Career Highlights: Screen, Stage, and Radio
Deschâtelets’ career touches nearly every corner of Quebec media. Here’s a summary of her key professional milestones:
| Era | Role | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 1980–1983 | UDA President | Youngest person to hold the position |
| 1988–1989 | TV host | Co-hosted La Guerre des sexes with Guy Fournier |
| 1993–1999 | TV actress | Starred in the téléroman Ent’Cadieux |
| Radio career | Radio host | Daily programming at CJMS and CKAC |
| Since 2000 | Columnist | Writes the advice column for Le Journal de Montréal |
| Recent years | Stage actress | Roles in Coco Chatel, Le Dîner de cons, Les Femmes savantes |
This breadth of work is part of why she remains such a trusted voice. Few columnists giving relationship advice have actually lived through the kind of public relationship turmoil she experienced firsthand.
Louise Deschâtelets Separation: Her Difficult Divorce
Deschâtelets has been candid about the personal side of her life, including a relationship breakdown that she has described as one of the hardest periods of her life.
The Guy Fournier Years
Deschâtelets was in a highly publicized relationship with filmmaker and writer Guy Fournier starting in 1981. The pair worked together professionally throughout the relationship, co-hosting the game show La Guerre des sexes from 1988 to 1989 and later the Gala MetroStar in 1992. They also co-hosted Mon amour, mon amour in 1993, though the show lasted only one season, and the couple separated shortly after, in 1994.
Marriage to Jean-Michel de Cazanove and Separation
That same year, Deschâtelets married French count Jean-Michel de Cazanove, a man she had actually met 25 years earlier in Guadeloupe. The marriage eventually broke down, and they divorced by the end of the 1990s.
In later interviews, Deschâtelets described this separation as genuinely difficult. She said she was around 49 and a half years old when things fell apart, and that the divorce process dragged on for seven painful years. She has been direct about the personal toll it took, explaining that she had to leave a house she’d purchased in France and rebuild a life she’d worked hard to establish there.
What stands out in how she discusses this period is her willingness to take responsibility for her part in it. She has said plainly that the mistake was hers to own, and that the experience pushed her into therapy to understand why she hadn’t recognized she was heading toward a breakdown in the relationship.
Finding Love Again with Marc Parson
Since 2008, Deschâtelets has been in a relationship with author Marc Parson, and their story began in a surprisingly old-fashioned way. A mutual friend nudged both of them toward each other at a party, telling Louise she should give Marc a look and telling Marc the same thing about her from across the room.
The two exchanged a polite goodbye that night, and Deschâtelets assumed that was the end of it. The next day, Marc emailed her at her professional address to invite her to dinner, and the two have been together ever since, building what she describes as a relationship rooted in trust and mutual admiration.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Louise Deschâtelets? She was born on October 28, 1945, which makes her 80 years old as of 2026.
What caused Louise Deschâtelets’ separation? Her most difficult separation followed her marriage to French count Jean-Michel de Cazanove. The couple divorced after a difficult seven-year process that began when she was around 49 and a half years old.
Is Louise Deschâtelets in a relationship now? Yes. She has been with author Marc Parson since 2008, following a chance meeting arranged by a mutual friend.
What is Louise Deschâtelets known for today? Beyond her acting career, she’s widely known as the advice columnist for Le Journal de Montréal, a role she has held since November 2000.
Was Louise Deschâtelets ever married more than once? Yes. She was previously married to Jean-Michel de Cazanove in 1994, and she was also in a long, high-profile relationship with Guy Fournier from 1981 to 1994 before that marriage.
Final Thoughts
Louise Deschâtelets’ career shows what happens when talent and honesty go hand in hand. She’s built a decades-long career in front of cameras and behind a typewriter, and she has never shied away from discussing the separation that reshaped her life in her late forties. That openness is likely why so many Quebecers have trusted her advice for over twenty years.
For readers who want to understand how someone rebuilds after a painful separation, Louise Deschâtelets’ story offers real, lived proof that recovery and lasting love are possible at any age.
