The frustration is immense for Freddy. The thirty-something, who participated for the fifth time To Koh Lanta, was forced to leave the anniversary season, The legend, from the first day of shooting, for medical reasons. As the faithful of the show saw during the episode broadcast Tuesday on TF1, the adventurer was injured during the very first test, a particularly difficult obstacle course. “I had prepared this adventure, I wanted to live it”, he confided to 20 minutes.
When you participate in “Koh-Lanta”, do you imagine the possibility of having to give up due to injury?
I had envisioned many things but this was not one of them. I was rather worried that I would be eliminated first for not being strategic enough. It’s super hard to start with an injury, especially on the first test of the first episode. I feel like I haven’t lived my Koh Lanta. I didn’t eat a single piece of coconut, I didn’t even bathe in Tahitian water.
When the doctor announces to you that you will not be able to resume the adventure, was it the hammer blow or you had prepared yourself for it as soon as you were taken over by the emergency services?
It was not the doctor who told me that. After I injured myself, I was evacuated to the hospital. I had an X-ray and was diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder. A doctor put it back in place and suddenly it got better. I had the impression that I could resume the adventure the next day. I spent the night at the medical center and, in the morning, Denis Brogniart arrived to tell me that, for medical reasons, I will not be able to join the adventure again. And there, my world collapsed. I had prepared this adventure, I wanted to live it.
You say in your portrait that you had been preparing for a year …
More than that: I trained for the show for over two years. For the record, the production contacted me in January 2019 to participate in Island of heroes [saison diffusée l’an passé pendant le premier confinement], so I started my preparation by joining a bootcamp, a training camp supervised by former soldiers, for four months in Australia. For personal reasons, I was unable to participate in Island of heroes – my older brother’s marriage fell at the same time. But I told myself that the production was necessarily going to organize something for Koh-Lanta’s twenty years. So I decided to continue my training, to be ready in case someone called me back.
Did you take time to recover from this hasty departure?
It was hard at the time, a big blow to morale. This adventure, I was waiting for it. But I knew, and I warned my darling about it, that Koh Lanta always reserves surprises and that I could be the first eliminated. I didn’t expect it to be an injury, but I had it in mind, even though I was going to win. I’m still disappointed, but I got over it.
Would you be up for a sixth participation?
If I am offered it, it is a direct yes! I don’t have the impression of having lived this adventure apart from having been on the starting line.
Are you going to watch this season or are you going to avoid?
I can’t wait to see her on TV because suddenly I don’t know what happens after I leave.
Out of all the adventurers in the cast who do you think deserves to win?
I will give a Top 3, the one I would like to see on the posts: Laurent, Claude and Clémentine.