Little known facts about VTV3's most famous character

Journalist Lai Van Sam is very open when sharing about his work, but he has his own principles, and is especially secretive about his personal life. Therefore, the most powerful man on VTV3 sometimes still makes the audience curious when talking about his private life.

Journalist Lai Van Sam was born in 1958, he is currently the Head of VTV3. Audiences know him as the host of popular game shows such as SV96, Guest of VTV3, Magic Hat, Let's choose the right price and currently Who is a millionaire... and most recently SV2016 called The return of the funny wise men.

Sticking with VTV3 from the very beginning

Taking on a major responsibility at Vietnam Television, few people would have guessed that journalist Lai Van Sam had never received any training in journalism. From 1975 to 1987, he studied and researched in the Soviet Union, majoring in Hindu languages.

At the end of 1987, journalist Lai Van Sam was recruited to be a translator for Soviet sports news into Vietnamese at Vietnam Television. He was then assigned to edit and comment on weekly Soviet and world sports programs.

Image of journalist Lai Van Sam when he first started his career

Together with two colleagues, Tran Tien Duc and Vu Huy Hung, he was assigned to report live the matches of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, which was also the first year that Vietnam Television reported live a world sporting event. In 1990, journalist Lai Van Sam took over the new job at the VKT program, temporarily stopping his sports commentary.

At the end of 1995, journalist Lai Van Sam decided to change direction to produce the SV96 program. At that time, the workload was really large and required constant travel, he didn't even have time to visit his family. Journalist Lai Van Sam once shared: "At that time, the cycle was terrible. No one asked me why I did this, how much money I made. I just jumped into it."

Up to now, journalist Lai Van Sam has been with VTV for 29 years.

Up to now, when VTV3 has become the most popular TV channel in Vietnam, journalist Lai Van Sam has also taken the position of Head of Department but sometimes the audience still sees him as friendly and humorous in the role of a TV host.

Sharing about this, journalist Lai Van Sam shared: “I often call myself Phan Dinh Giot, wherever there is a shortage of people, I will use my body to fill the loopholes. So, regardless of the program, if there is a shortage of hosts, I will fill in to fix the problem for them.”

Hidden corners of private life

Although very open when sharing about his work plans, journalist Lai Van Sam has strict principles when sharing issues related to his personal life.

He chose a simple and somewhat closed lifestyle in his daily life. Journalist Lai Van Sam confided: “For about 5-6 years now, I have not answered any strange phone numbers. If someone needs something, calls me 5-6 times without getting through, then texts me. I see that person needs to answer, I answer, otherwise, that’s it. It’s not that I’m arrogant, because I know there are things that don’t solve any problems, and sometimes they become funny.”

Because he is so famous, MC Lai Van Sam is sometimes caught up in cruel rumors, including that he suddenly died.

Fame sometimes brings many troubles to journalist Lai Van Sam. Therefore, seemingly normal activities like going to a restaurant sometimes make him think.

The veteran MC of the show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire shared: "I rarely go to restaurants, and the food is not delicious because while I'm eating, suddenly, from the waiters to the customers, when they see me, they run up, shake hands, and clink beer glasses, while I don't like beer, wine, and then ask to take pictures."

Because of his private lifestyle, journalist Lai Van Sam absolutely does not share matters related to his family. The only time he revealed that he got married and had children in Russia was at a press conference introducing a live television program in Hanoi - Moscow called "Song of Victory". However, his sharing was only general, absolutely not going into details.

In the father-son relationship, journalist Lai Van Sam also clearly distinguishes between work and love. This information was only known when director Lai Bac Hai Dang revealed it to the press. He shared: “At work, my father and I agreed to address each other as brother - sister. At home we are father and son, but at work we are colleagues. Moreover, my father is still very young. At work we are used to calling each other that way, when I come home, sometimes I also call my father brother, but then I immediately correct it.”

Journalist Lai Van Sam clearly distinguishes between work and father-son relationship

When working together at the TV station, journalist Lai Van Sam also maintained a fair and objective attitude. Director Lai Bac Hai Dang shared: “Mr. Sam is a very professional MC. When I was filming the program, I was the director, he listened to me completely. I was ready to remind him when the MC did something wrong, was late, etc. When the filming was over, he returned to his position as responsible producer, giving comments on what was good and what was not. At that time, I had to accept and comply."

Journalist Lai Van Sam has just returned to SV2016 as a judge.

Few people know that, despite being such a famous person, journalist Lai Van Sam does not use Facebook even though there are many pages on the internet named after him.

According to Vietnamnet