Southern comfort food meets French television
When Celina Tolbert appeared on Un dîner presque parfait, she saw it as an opportunity to share a taste of her North Carolina roots with French television audiences. The Paris-based American competed in a semaine spéciale mondiale edition of the popular French reality show, which is based on the British format Come Dine with Me that has aired on Channel 4 since 2005 and has been adapted in over 30 countries worldwide.
The French version originally ran on M6 from 2008 to 2014, bringing the dinner party competition format to French screens. In the show, five contestants take turns hosting dinner parties, with each guest rating their experience. Tolbert embraced the challenge fully, creating a country-western themed evening complete with Dolly Parton music, clogging demonstrations, and even an inflatable mechanical bull. Despite her enthusiasm, she placed last with a score of 5.5 out of 10, competing for the €1,000 prize that mirrors the unchanged £1,000 award offered in the British original since its inception.
Traditional recipes from the Appalachian Mountains
For her menu, Tolbert chose dishes that connected her to childhood memories rather than attempting the elaborate barbecue North Carolina is famous for. Her barbecue baked beans followed her grandmother's Appalachian Mountains recipe, which involved doctoring canned beans with ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, and barbecue sauce, then topping them with authentic Carolina barbecue sauce she had brought from the United States.
She also served cornbread and meatloaf, though the latter proved challenging in the show's kitchen constraints, resulting in a drier texture than intended. While she considered serving Pepsi—invented in 1893 by pharmacist Caleb Bradham in New Bern, North Carolina—she ultimately decided against it. The soft drink, originally called Brad's Drink before being renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898, represents another piece of her home state's heritage.
From theatre student to French television
Tolbert's path to French television began with theatre workshops at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she minored in theatre and worked as an extra in several films. Her acting ambitions took a detour when she moved to France as an au pair in 2016, navigating the visa requirements that allow non-EU citizens to work in France for up to two years in that capacity.
After studies that took her between London and Paris, she settled permanently in the French capital in 2020. Since then, she has built a following on TikTok by documenting expatriate life and the cultural adjustments that come with it. Her television appearance offered insight into the French production industry, where she learned terms like coupez and action, while gaining appreciation for the demands placed on reality show contestants.
Her next role takes her into narrative filmmaking: she plays a student in Fleur, directed by Ellie Foumbi and produced by Halle Berry. The film completed shooting in Paris in May 2026 after production began in March. Foumbi brings impressive credentials to the project, with her previous film Our Father, The Devil winning 25 international festival prizes, including the 2022 Tribeca narrative audience award, and earning a Best Feature nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Finding authenticity across cultures
Reflecting on her decade in France, Tolbert acknowledges she made some grading mistakes during the show. She admits she was too generous with her scores, forgetting the stricter French grading conventions and likely contributing to her own lower final score.
Yet her television experience represents just one aspect of a broader cultural journey. She finds French directness refreshing compared to the more indirect communication style of the American South, where she says people might offer a
bless your heartwhile talking behind your back. In France, she can be blunt without causing offense, making daily interactions more straightforward.
Tolbert is pursuing French citizenship, driven not only by practical considerations but by a genuine sense of belonging. She describes France as a place where she can be her authentic self more easily than in the United States. While she acknowledges that France has its own imperfections, she appreciates what she sees as the country's authentic foundations and the way French society allows her to engage honestly.
Her passion for French culture extends to architecture. She dreams of one day purchasing a château and filling it with rescue animals, though she jokes that installing adequate cooling systems would be essential—despite being
eco-friendly and cheap,she notes that her single air-conditioning unit at home reflects her adaptation to French living standards.
For Americans considering a similar move, Tolbert emphasizes the importance of research and cultural compatibility. She warns against relocating without understanding whether French society will align with personal values and communication styles. She also stresses that moving abroad becomes more complicated with age, making early opportunities particularly valuable. Her own journey, beginning just after university graduation, allowed her to build a life that feels more like home than the country where she was born.
