[5] A former pupil of the La Fontaine school at Antony, Delarue passed a baccalauréat B then studied for a Diplôme universitaire de technologie (DUT) (a type of French university diploma, below degree level) in media, choosing an advertising option.
In September 1989, Delarue, working with the French television radio host and actor Yvan Le Bolloc'h, overhauled the show, renaming it Top 50 système D. It broadcast on Europe 1 during 1989–1990, between 19:30 and 21:00.
Additionally, and again at Europe 1, he presented a programme called L'Équipe du matin (The Morning Team) for the station's 7:00–9:00 news slot, attracting 300,000 listeners.
In 1994 he left Canal+ to return to France 2, at the same time establishing his own production company, Réservoir Prod, which produced his flagship series Ça se discute (Something to discuss) – a talk programme dealing with a different societal topic in each episode.
He offered the following explanation for the prominent earpiece: "J'ai pris une oreillette visible parce que ça signifiait qu'une émission, c'est un travail d'équipe qui ne repose pas seulement sur les épaules d'un animateur."
In 1999 Réservoir Prod launched "C'est mon choix" (It's my choice), a daily talk show hosted by Évelyne Thomas on France 3.
In 2001, in partnership with Franck Saurat, Delarue founded Carson Prod,[11] a production company specialising in entertainment programmes such as Stars à domicile (Stars in the home), which was presented by Flavie Flament and featured a filmed, surprise meeting between a celebrity and a fan, taking place in the fan's home or other location familiar to them.
In 2004 he had to bring several programmes to an end, including C'est mon choix and, due to a lack of viewers, Stars à domicile, Scrupules, and La vie en clair.
[13] After the end of the 2006 summer season Delarue launched a new early afternoon programme called Toute une histoire (A whole story).
On the 21 October 2006 Delarue's then partner, Élisabeth Bost (a French journalist and television presenter), gave birth to their son, Jean Delarue-Bost.
In November 2009 Delarue appeared on the cover of the French women's magazine Gala with his new companion Inés Sastre, though in March 2010 he announced their break-up.
[21][22] He had revealed he was suffering from cancer during a press conference held at the headquarters of France Télévisions on the 2 December 2011, pre-empting a member of the paparazzi who had gained possession of his medical records.
[25] On the 22 July 2012, a month before his death, Delarue was the victim of a hoax: a false rumour that he had died circulated, having been started on the social network site Twitter.
Titled Toute son histoire (His whole story), it was presented by Sophie Davant and took a look back over Delarue's career as a presenter-producer, using large amounts of archive material.
[29] On 24 September 2012 AFP announced that Delarue had been interred in Cimetière de Thiais, near Paris and that his grave was located in a part of the cemetery where the crypts of Muslim families are to be found.
"[32] Three days after the incident, on the 16 February, three members of the flight crew made formal complaints about Delarue's aggressive and insulting behaviour to the authorities at Roissy Airport.
[36][37] The same evening he offered an explanation for the events in a message recorded at the studios of France 2, a few hours after his release, during which he stated that he was receiving treatment for his drug use and apologised for setting a bad example.