Two French TV star twin brothers, who made their name on a science program in the 1980s before becoming famous for their cosmetic surgery, have died within a week of each other from COVID-19, friends and family confirmed.
The death of Igor Bogdanoff, 72, was confirmed on Monday evening by his lawyer, Edouard de Lamaze, as well as his agent.
He died just six days after his brother Grichka Bogdanoff passed away in a Parisian hospital, also of COVID-19, the lawyer confirmed.
Photo: AFP
Instantly recognizable in France and a favorite in the country’s glossy celebrity magazines, they also claimed to have taken part in the creation of bitcoin.
“We were implicated, very early, in the birth of the cryptocurrency,” Grichka told French TV show Non-Stop People in June last year, with their claim largely based on their proximity and friendship with Japanese mathematicians behind bitcoin.
Igor announced that they would soon launch their own currency, “exocoin.”
Neither of the brothers had been vaccinated against COVID-19, their friend Luc Ferry, a former education minister, said last week.
Ferry told Le Parisien newspaper that he had urged both of them to get vaccinated “countless times,” but they refused on the basis that they were “very sporty, without a gram of fat.”
“Grichka, like Igor, wasn’t an anti-vaxxer. He was anti-vax for himself,” Ferry said, confirming that both of them had contracted COVID-19.
The Russian-origin twins shot to fame as the presenters of the hit 1980s science show Temps X on the country’s TF1 channel, and carved out careers as amateur and often controversial science writers afterward.
In their later years, their looks, socialite lifestyle and legal problems stemming from their attempt to relaunch Temps X kept them in the public eye.
They denied having plastic surgery to explain their transformed looks, but admitted to having undergone “experimentations,” which gave them their extreme high cheek bones, as well as large lips and pronounced chins.
“We are proud of having faces like extra-terrestrials,” they said in 2010.
Igor was a father of six from several marriages.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS