CAIRO: After nearly four months of shying away from notoriety and public eyes, media figure Gamila Ismail plans to make a comeback as she is currently looking into three offers from private satellite TV channels.
“I want to reassume my career in the media through a special program; I will focus on social issues and matters regarding women, specifically the relationship between men and women, she told Daily News Egypt.
Ismail found refuge in her mother’s home away from the media’s attention after separating from former presidential candidate Ayman Nour earlier this year.
“I am carefully looking into the offers at hand, consulting my friends and close experts, said Ismail, adding that some offers are still being negotiated while some might be soon confirmed.
One of the offers Ismail is considering is a talk show developed by publisher Hisham Kassem.
“I developed a vision for the program irrespective of which channel will broadcast it, said Kassem.
However, according to media sources Ismail is mulling offers from three channels on top of which is Al-Far ein. On Al-Far ein, Ismail would either co-host the main talk show along with Tawfik Okasha, the channel’s owner, or have her own show, the source said.
The other two offers are supposedly from OTV and Al-Wasl, a Gulf-Egyptian channel that started its trial broadcast a few days ago.
OTV is supposedly offering Ismail a co-host position in its show ‘Baladna’ with Al-Youm Al-Sabe’s chief editor Khaled Salah, according to the same source.
However, head of OTV Yasmin Abdullah denied any talks with Ismail, saying that “This never happened; there are no negotiations with Gamila Ismail to host any show (on OTV).
A source close to the negotiations confirmed talks with Ismail, however, adding that a deal is close to being sealed as both parties started discussing technical details.
On the other hand, Okasha confirmed talks with Ismail: “We have reached a deal with Ismail and we’ve agreed to all her technical demands. However, we are still discussing matters related to her salary.
“She has agreed to host a talk show with me, but there is a big possibility she’ll have her own new show as well, he added.
According to the media source, Ismail has put some terms of her own, among which is to be in charge of choosing her team of reporters and producers as well as having a say in the general vision of the program in terms of technical matters.
