And one, and two, and three black balls… Élodie’s adventure was marked by bad luck. This 35-year-old Belgian has indeed been excluded from most team games in “Koh-Lanta, the sacred fire”, following unfortunate draws. This Tuesday, March 14, the comfort test was individual but the communication and marketing manager of a board game publisher failed to get by and finished last. However, as Denis Brogniart had announced, this place was synonymous with elimination. The adventure therefore ended on the 10th day for Élodie.
Was this your first application for the show?
ELODIE. No, this was my sixth time applying. It’s been twenty years since I dreamed of participating, this show was immediately a crush. I started to send my application from 2016 following a backpacking trip that I made alone at the end of the world for three months. It was the trigger.
Have you prepared physically for “Koh-Lanta”?
Yes. For five years, I have been going to the gym twelve hours a week. Looking back, I think I should have prepared more at the cardio level, run more.
What surprised you the most there?
Let there be three Belgians! Because it had been several seasons since there had been one. And otherwise, I was in awe of red island. However, I am used to traveling to remote areas with beautiful beaches, but there, I was completely amazed.
Unfortunately, you have drawn the black ball three times, depriving you of a test each time. Did it undermine you mentally?
Yes, and it still pisses me off to this day. My first objective on “Koh-Lanta” was to do the tests. I needed to prove to myself that I was a fighter, to take revenge on life. It hurt me deeply and I was hyper-negative, I understand, about last week’s episode. In my life, I’ve really never had a chance. The only one I had was being chosen from among 40,000 applicants.
Precisely, last Tuesday, you were persuaded to leave when in the end, more adventurers voted against Alexandre…
It’s true that I got a little carried away, but over there, the emotions are tenfold and at the base, I’m already very emotional. As no one shared their voting intentions with me, I was convinced that I was in the hot seat.
You avoided the exit, but the next day, on the elimination round, you felt very stressed…
The last two days of the adventure were real roller coasters. I get up on the 9th day being sure to leave, then Alexander is eliminated. I’m disappointed for him but I’m happy for me. There, I find the smile, the following day I have a peach of hell. But when Denis Brogniart tells us that it’s an eliminatory test, I leave in “bad”, telling myself that luck is never with me. Even if I give the best of myself, as I always have. I was obviously happy to do an event but I regretted that it wasn’t sporty at the time.
How was the return to Belgium?
The first few weeks were very hard mentally speaking. I quickly got back to work. I continue my intensive practice of sport, I am on a musical project. In life, I never give up, I find new goals.
Did you lose a lot of weight in ten days of adventure?
About five pounds. When I see the images, I find myself very weakened whereas in the camp, I was really hungry the first three or four days but after that, much less.
You mentioned “revenge on life”, do you echo your breast cancer?
Absolutely. When I was diagnosed with it in November 2021, the first thing I thought of was: “Damn, I couldn’t apply for Koh-Lanta anymore. When I tell that to my relatives, they laugh, but it was such a dream! In the end, it made me grow wings. I had sent my application letter two weeks after the operation then, during my radiotherapy sessions, I was in the middle of a casting. It has been the most wonderful six months of my life! Firstly because after being operated on, I was told that I shouldn’t do chemotherapy. And then I went through the casting step by step when production was obviously very aware of my health issues. When I was told I was taken, I was in a state of intense elation. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.