The father of Jean-Luc Delarue, a controversial French television talk show host who died a month ago, says he discovered after his death that his son had converted to Islam.

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Jean-Claude Delarue, father of the late TV star and producer, revealed on Wednesday that he did not attend the burial of his son because it was a secret.

“I was not at the funeral of my son, I only attended a small gathering at the Père Lachaise cemetery,” he told the Europe 1 radio station.

He said he had to fight for “days and days” with the funeral home and Parisian authorities to find out where the star was laid to rest before discovering it was in a Muslim section of a cemetery in the Paris suburbs.

Jean-Luc Delarue, whose mother was part Jewish, apparently converted to Islam shortly before his marriage to former model Anissa Kehl, a Muslim, on May 12th 2012.

The revelation showed that in death, as in life, the star still has the capacity to make waves.

During his career as a producer he became embroiled in legal problems for not paying his employees properly.

His name popped up in headlines for insulting an actress at an award show, for unseemly behaviour to other passengers on board a flight to South Africa and various other violent outbreaks.

His problems with drugs and alcohol flared into the public arena when he was detained by police for trafficking cocaine two years ago.
 
He issued a memorable “mea culpa” on his weekly television show, Toute une histoire, where he confessed to his addiction problems.

The following day, France Télévisions suspended him indefinitely.

Delarue, who launched a foundation to fight against drug abuse, died of cancer before the trafficking case against him could proceed.