Frederick has conquered the sacred fire. Tuesday evening at the end of the final broadcast on TF1, the 33-year-old candidate won “Koh-Lanta”, winning against Tania. A particularly happy evening for the adventurer since, in the first part of the show, viewers were able to discover his victory in the legendary pole test, despite a foot injury. He then made the strategic choice to give up his promise to Nicolas, deemed too dangerous, to face Tania during the final jury.
It is therefore a particularly strategic adventurer who won “Koh-Lanta” this year. Member of the alliance of the “Fantastic Four” with Gilles, Quentin and Nicolas, Frédéric knew how to lead his boat with tactics and cunning, sometimes resorting to lies and betrayal. A strategy that has paid off. His former comrades, far from holding it against him, finally named him the big winner. Frédéric, whose winnings will fuel a project to open a cocktail bar in 2024, answered questions from 20 minutes.
Was this victory a big surprise or did you expect it?
It was a surprise, I was not sure to win when I arrived. There were a few votes that I was sure of because I was told, including the quartet. I was sure to have at least three voices and I knew that Tania had at least two with Esteban and Julie. The rest was discovery.
During the final, Denis Brogniart said of you that you seemed “programmed to go to the end of this adventure”. What do you think ?
It’s not really my point of view. In the game, I was wondering how to go as far as possible, but I was advancing day by day. Inevitably, when you see that certain strategies work and allow you to be comfortable for two or three days, you try to chain shots like that to go the furthest. But, at the start, I was not one of those who saw myself being at orientation or on the posts.
At what point in the adventure did you start telling yourself that winning was possible?
Very late, at the time of the posts. I took pleasure in playing in this way with strategies, but I had exposed myself and I had not anticipated the fact that it was also necessary to put oneself in the pocket, in quotation marks, the people who left. I knew I wasn’t going to make friends doing that, but I couldn’t see the game far enough to tell myself that it could harm me in the final. It’s on the posts that I ask myself: “If I win, what do I do?” Because the jury must not like me too much. »
You win the posts when you are not necessarily given a winner because of your foot injury. What allowed you to overcome that?
This injury took a toll on my morale. She arrived the day before the posts, I thought a lot all night and I slept very little. I arrived very tired for this event, so not necessarily comfortable. But at some point I felt really good and that’s when I realized I could win.
You create the surprise just after your victory by choosing Tania instead of Nicolas your ally. Was it a difficult decision or did it come easily to you?
It was the most difficult decision of my “Koh-Lanta”. I knew I was going to hurt Nicolas at that moment. When I told him I was picking him, there really was no second thought and I really wanted to see him with me on the posts. It was the logical continuation of our historic alliance. But, in the end, when I said to myself that I could win, I wondered if choosing him was really a good strategic choice. Given the way I had exposed myself, I had no chance against a Nicolas. He’s an amazing adventurer and I would have voted for him myself. Vis-à-vis the final jury I had made predictions in my head and I thought he would win hands down. Hence my choice.
Did you have the opportunity to talk about it again with him?
We did it directly after the final council. He took it very well and he understood my position and my thinking. In the process he even admitted to me that he had voted for me in the final vote.
The editing of the show and Denis Brogniart on set insist a lot on this choice. You didn’t experience it badly?
No, when we watch “Koh-Lanta”, we know that the strategy and those moves are part of the fact that the public loves this show so much. And when you do, you have to expect to have these types of questions behind. This is normal because you also have to take the time to explain the why and how to the main stakeholders. On the other hand, yes, on social networks, it panics. I haven’t taken the time to watch it yet, but it’s kind of over my head.
You seem to make sense of things very quickly by assuming you’re in a game, hence the ease of betraying or lying. An aspect that we don’t see in all seasons of “Koh-Lanta” where people tend to take it very seriously…
I have already noticed that some people in “Koh-Lanta” have the impression that it is an extension of life. That since their value is not to lie, they will not lie. But it’s shooting yourself in the foot because it’s a game of strategy, so we have to put in place to advance as far as possible. And we know that it can also go through lying. From the first council, we vote strategically because we have to agree with several people to eliminate one. Even if we talk about merit, it’s still strategy. The public sees this word as a swear word and yet this is what makes “Koh-Lanta” so pleasant to watch.
You say you weren’t prepared for the strategy. Is it therefore a skill that you discovered during this adventure?
I play board games a lot. If I take the example of a Werewolf for example, it’s a game where you have to lie and be hyperpersuasive. I did not think of coming to “Koh-Lanta” by playing specifically on this axis. But from the moment when there was the recomposition of the teams and when we felt in danger when arriving at the Tinago, we began to put in place this first strategy. When I saw it had worked, it released the valve. Afterwards I no longer had any scruples, in quotation marks, about lying in the context of the game because for me it was simply playing. And I loved playing that way. Even if today I take criticism on social networks, I have no regrets because I had fun playing this “Koh-Lanta”.
Has your job as sales manager been an asset?
I think it helped me because when you’re commercial, you have to lead in a certain direction. Inevitably, when it was necessary to argue to set up strategies or make people believe in things, I perhaps had a few facilities.
Maybe you will be approached by recruiters…
I quit my job as sales manager because it wasn’t a passion job. It’s true that at the same time I received a lot of requests on Linkedin from recruiters. But I won’t be going back.
Did you discover other aspects of yourself during this adventure?
By dint of being alone on the island, like at night to take care of the fire for example, it allows you to have moments to reflect and take stock of your life. Before I hated being alone, I had to move left, right and be surrounded all the time. Today I take more time for myself. I manage to refocus my priorities and put the most important people back at the center of my life.
If you were offered to participate again in “Koh-Lanta”, would you do it again?
Absolutely. I am a great player and it is therefore as if I were being offered a new game of Werewolf. I would say yes.