Gregory Charles Breaks Down Remembering His Late Friend Marie-Soleil Tougas

Gregory Charles was overcome with emotion while revisiting a defining chapter of his television career on the Quebec program *Les Enfants de la télé*. The singer and host appeared on the show for a tribute to his work, and presenter André Robitaille brought up archival footage from *Les Débrouillards*, the children’s science series Charles co-hosted for several years with Marie-Soleil Tougas. The images showed the pair’s easy rapport on screen. According to the source, Charles began to cry before Robitaille had even asked his question. Tougas died in a plane crash in 1997, and the clips prompted Charles to reflect on the friendship they shared and the lasting impact of her death. The conversation turned to August 10, 1997, the day Tougas lost her life. Robitaille recalled how deeply she had been known and loved by people around her, then asked Charles about the bond visible between the co-hosts in the old footage. Charles said grief had brought complicated feelings with it. He described a sense of guilt at still being alive when his friend was gone, while making clear that he did not mean he felt responsible for the accident. He also spoke of a responsibility to live up to what he and Tougas had believed they could become. “It hit me hard,” Charles said, describing how deeply her passing affected him. The discussion later moved to music and the ways it can help people express feelings after losing someone they love. The tribute offered viewers a glimpse of both the warmth Charles and Tougas shared on television and the private weight he says he has carried since her death.