Years after disappearing from network TV, Ksenia Sobchak is reportedly poised to return to Russian state television

Ksenia Sobchak, the television personality and socialite who ran for Russian president in 2018 as the election’s token “liberal” candidate, might be returning to primetime. Sources told the magazine RBC that Sobchak is in talks with the state-owned TV network Pervyi Kanal. Spokespeople for the station have confirmed the meetings with Sobchak, but they refused to reveal any further details.

Ksenia Sobchak says she’s been in talks with Pervyi Kanal CEO Konstantin Ernst for two years already, “but there’s still nothing definite.”

What Sobchak’s Pervyi Kanal show might be about is anybody's guess.

Ksenia Sobchak used to work regularly with Pervyi Kanal in the 2000s, but she hasn’t hosted a show on a state-owned TV network since 2012, when she publicly supported anti-Kremlin opposition protesters. She technically returned to the national airwaves in the fall of 2017, when she launched her presidential campaign.

In May 2019, Sobchak became the general producer for the entertainment TV channel Super, which belongs to the holding company Gazprom-Media.