I didn’t get coded, didn’t undergo treatment, just forbade myself to drink.
Yuri Nikolaev was born on December 16, 1948, in Chișinău. The television host's father was a colonel in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his mother was a captain in the NKVD. His parents spoiled their son and often accommodated him. For example, when little Yura refused to attend kindergarten, they hired a nanny for him. During his school years, Nikolaev attended a drama club. He made his television debut at the age of 13, albeit as an actor in the play "Men's Conversation." At the same time, Yuri studied at a school with a physics and mathematics focus. His parents expected their heir to become an engineer, but he chose his own path and entered GITIS on his first attempt after graduating from school. By his fourth year, Nikolaev joined the troupe of the Pushkin Theater. Soon he began acting in films.
During his student years, Yuri married his classmate Galina. However, the marriage turned out to be fragile and did not last long. As Nikolaev later admitted, after the divorce, he and Galina stopped communicating.
"We do not maintain a relationship; I remember once she called, and we talked for a long time, even agreed to call each other again and then meet. I hung up and thought, 'Why should we meet? What’s the purpose?' I didn’t call her back, and she didn’t either. She has her own life; she got married. I have my own," he candidly shared.
In 1975, Nikolaev married for the second time. The artist's chosen one was Eleonora, the younger sister of his friend Ronald Gravis. She confessed that she fell in love with Nikolaev back in childhood and even cried when he married for the first time. As the artist recounted, at the wedding, the witnesses had to chip in for champagne because the groom had no money for it. He earned only 85 rubles at the theater, and the fees for film roles were irregular.
"Well, I, a 17-year-old, of course, didn’t look at her. But then, when she was finishing school and entering the financial institute, we accidentally met on a trolleybus. She was so slender, with curls," Yuri recalled.
Shortly after the wedding, Nikolaev ended up in the announcers' department on central television and began hosting the program "Forward, Boys!" and later "Morning Mail." Happiness was overshadowed by alcohol dependence.
"When long binges happened, Lyalya (Eleonora. — Ed.) helped out: she managed to get sick leaves so I could cover for myself at work. Sometimes I would leave home and then not even know where I was — in Sochi or Leningrad, in which part of the country at all. My wife would find me through friends and take me home drunk," Nikolaev recalled.
In 1978, Yuri got into a scandal: he appeared drunk on the air of Channel One. Moreover, it was during the prime time on Friday evening when millions of viewers were waiting for the announcement of the Saturday football match. Nikolaev's career could have ended there, but the head of the State Television and Radio of the USSR, Sergey Lapin, said: "Strictly punish him, but keep him on television."
"I decided: 'Not a single gram more!' I didn’t get coded, didn’t undergo treatment, just forbade myself to drink," the host shared.
A personal drama for the couple was childlessness. As Nikolaev admitted, he and his wife even sought help from doctors, but back then, medicine did not have the capabilities it has now.
"The fact that my wife and I have no children is our great misfortune. We didn’t have any abortions; it was just that while I was drinking, Lyalya was using contraception, and then it just didn’t happen," the artist shared with journalists.
Another blow for the family was the illness of Yuri's mother, Valentina Ignatovna. She hid her cancer diagnosis from her relatives for a long time.
"My sister was going through some of my mother's papers and accidentally stumbled upon the diagnosis... That’s how she managed her fate. Mom lived about four to five years after we found out and started doing something," the television host said.
In her last years, Valentina Ignatovna spent time at their dacha in the Moscow region. She passed away at the age of 72, on her son's birthday.
"My father lasted only two years without her; he was very hard hit by her passing. With the death of my parents, I realized how little attention I paid to them. And I often think about it now. My wife tries to comfort me: 'You were a wonderful son; you did everything possible,' — but I believe I could have done much more for them," the host lamented.
In the 2000s, the television host was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm and underwent surgery. No one even suspected Nikolaev had health problems, as shortly after his discharge, he returned to work, during which he hosted the show "Dancing on Ice" in tandem with Anastasia Zavorotnyuk.
In 2007, the artist was diagnosed with bowel cancer. The host admitted: the illness would retreat and then return again.
"I don’t know the reason for my illness. My mother died of cancer — perhaps it’s hereditary predisposition. I need to be constantly checked, and at the slightest suspicion, I have to start treatment again... Yes, I’m scared, but I have to live. I want to live," the television host said.
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