She has gradually worked her way up to a well-known and respected personality in TV journalism to the point of getting recognized in the street. Her flagship at TV Prima is the Partie debate show, which also bears her name. Terezie Tománková – pleasant, quick to react, and open. And she likes to laugh. We met shortly after she spent an entire day doing live coverage of the coronation of King Charles III and a subsequent iteration of Partie.
How did you feel after the "Coronation/Partie" weekend marathon was over?
It was a privilege for me to do continuous live coverage of such an event. I've always been interested in England and I found the event fascinating, similar to many other people. The Charles III coronation special we broadcast had the highest share all day. It was 16 hours of live broadcasting, we started at 7 in the morning.
And you were on Partie the very next day…
And I did a quick mental about-face, switching to the Czech topics of funding, billions, budgets, deficits, austerity packages… [laughs]
So you were forced to break your habit of going to bed early on Saturday and waking up at six on Sunday…
I woke up at four on Saturday to make it in time for the special at seven. And when I got home, I found out that I had a really hard time making the mental shift to Czech politics. So, I decided to verticut the lawn and it took me a full two hours before I felt ready and able to sit down and write the rest of the script for Sunday. So yes, I very much broke that habit.
You'll be turning 45 in the summer, you've been at Prima for 25 years. Loyal to a single company your whole professional life?
Yes, I started out as a regional reporter. You basically cover everything there except for politics. After coming to the Prague office, I switched to predominantly political reporting rather quickly. Honestly, if it weren't for my coworkers, I wouldn't have even realized that it was my anniversary. Because I've gone through a lot of different jobs here, ranging from regional work, through hosting shows, all the way to being a manager for some time, it just didn't feel like it at all. But time goes by disgustingly fast... [laughs]
You've been hosting Partie for nine years now. Do you still remember your first time?
Very vividly. The chief editor of the news at the time, Jitka Obzinová, did give me some sort of a heads up that I would start hosting Partie, but it all just gained so much speed out of nowhere... She called me one Friday night that I'm up on Sunday. It was just after the Senate election and the guests were gentlemen Kubera and Čunek. And when I came in all stressed out, I found out that Mr. Čunek is still on the train and that we'll have Zuzana Baudyšová instead and he might join in later. So, that was a proper first time. [laughs]
But you still enjoy news reporting.
Yes, Partie did usher in a bit more journalism work, but I've always loved reporting and that will never change. So, thank God for the specials we're now putting on, be they about the coronation or any other event. I truly enjoy covering events live.
1.75 million people tuned in to watch your presidential debate of Babiš versus Pavel live. Have you ever dreamt of hosting something like that?
Not that I would ever be that presumptuous. Sure, I did want to keep moving up in reporting and I was very happy about the opportunity to be an anchor on the flagship news program, which was a major change and a big step up. But my dreams weren't really about wanting this or not wanting that. It was just about evolving. I watched the presidential election five years ago from my sofa, I didn't participate in it in any way at Prima. I didn't even feel that I could do something like that; I knew I wasn't quite ready for it yet.
This year's pre-election debate really helped you rise in the viewers' eyes...
That's true, people have started seeing me in a different light. Everyone was very invested in the presidential election, which was reflected in pre-election show ratings as well as the turnout.
What do you base your decisions on as a voter? Does knowing the politicians personally influence you?
No. And I would go as far as to say that nobody knows who I vote for. It's a debate host's God-given right to vote. Only the voter shouldn't be able to tell who they're voting for. It cannot be visible in the debate that you're favoring somebody.
How long in advance do you plan the guests and topics for Partie?
The two are inextricably linked. A specific guest usually means a specific topic, although there are some that any member of the government should be able to react to. Nevertheless, we need to work with a long-term plan in mind because it airs on Sundays, ministers are busy, they have their own schedules, and we often compete for guests with other shows... The only break we get is in July when Partie is off the air, and that's actually the only time I can take a longer vacation. So, a lot of things are set quite some time in advance. But it can happen, of course, that we need to switch out a topic or a guest on short notice. Just such a case happened when the Prime Minister and his deputy announced on a Saturday night that Russia was behind the attacks in Vrbětice. We had something about healthcare and covid lined up, and we changed everything in the span of one Saturday night. When the war in Ukraine broke out, we also switched out one guest. It was such a momentous occasion that we approached the Prime Minister.
Do guests get materials ahead of time?
They get the general topics, which often relate to the current state of affairs in the country. But we always reserve the right to include a topic that might become relevant last minute and that we feel is essential to the discussion. They don't get the questions. And I don't want to sound cliché, but I really do appreciate everyone who comes on the show. Who leaves home on a Sunday to come to the studio, answer questions, and have their views challenged by an opponent.
You once stated that you have a rather fiery temperament. Yet you need to stay absolutely calm during debates. Where do you let off steam? Do you have a punching back backstage?
[laughs] Good idea, I might just get one. When I'm on set I do my job, and getting angry, emotional, or stressing myself out is not a part of it. But you're right, I am rather dynamic by nature.
Doesn't the potential internal pressure bubble up at home later?
They might tell you it does... [laughs] But we're all a little affected by the job that we do. Just recently, I asked my husband something during breakfast, he started responding, I interrupted him, and he says, "Are you trying to cut my answer short?" I thought about it long and hard and I suppose I really did feel that he wasn't being factual in his response and so I stepped in.
But I'm assuming that your daughter isn't in Denmark to get away from a dynamic mom...
It's not as bad as all that, I hope... [laughs] And she's actually back now. She is in high school and was given the opportunity to study in Denmark for a year. And because the school year there starts in August, she went there at the end of July. She even got an offer to stay there for two years and graduate. She refused, however, because she wanted to come back home and graduate with her classmates.
I hear she's planning to go to medical school. If you keep doing political shows, it might be good for her to major in psychiatry...
She actually considered it for a while! [laughs] But she'll be eighteen this year and the decision is all hers. My professional world is alien to her and I never tried to make it more enticing, to try and make her want to do this job. She found her own way, which is great.
I asked about your temperament because of your Wallachian heritage. I found a description somewhere that read, "The Wallachians are fiery, be it in joy or sorrow, affection or enmity. Earnestness and solemnity prevail, however. The Wallachian is content in amity, but when he is fed up with insults, his anger pours forth."
Where did you find that? That does have some truth to it... [laughs] It really is a distinctive region; it used to be a poor neglected borderland with harsh weather. It's very different compared to life in Prague, for instance, the people are different, and so is the lifestyle. They would tell you that life there is better than it is in Prague in many aspects. It's less hectic, more emphasis is put on family, a lot of people believe, faith is much more a part of life there than it is in big cities, etc. I studied university in Olomouc and I moved to Prague before I even graduated, but I still see it as my home and I like going back there.
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Terezie Tománková (born July 20, 1978, in Slavičín) is a show host and news anchor at CNN Prima News. Her flagship is the Partie Terezie Tománkové debate talk show.
She graduated in Journalism from the Palacký University in Olomouc, moving to Prague during her studies and becoming a reporter and parliamentary correspondent at TV Prima in the year 2000.
Tománková subsequently became an anchor at the station's flagship news program, remaining in the position until 2018. She has been hosting the show Partie since 2014.
She also works as an external academic at Metropolitan University Prague.
She has a daughter Ema (17).
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