TV show
“Won’t disappoint you”: Lucy is queen of the jungle
Lucy Diakovska is the new jungle queen. photo
© Stefan Thoyah/RTL/dpa
With her endless energy, Lucy Diakovska wins the RTL jungle camp. Sonja Zietlow says in disbelief: “That’s not a real person.” It was a special day for the singer.
Not an angel, but now a queen: singer Lucy Diakovska won the RTL jungle camp.
The 47-year-old, who previously enjoyed great success with the pop band No Angels (“Daylight In Your Eyes”), was crowned the so-called jungle queen – just like in the show “I’m a Star – Get Me Out of Here!” It is a tradition when the winner is determined. Diakovska cried and addressed the audience after the small ceremony: “I promise you, I will not disappoint you.”
In the final, the singer, who was born in Bulgaria and whose real name is Ludmila Diakovska, received the most audience votes. Her last two competitors – the reality candidate Leyla Lahouar (27) and the influencer Twenty4Tim (23) – were left behind. Lahouar finished in second place, Twenty4Tim in third. At the moment of his departure, the Tiktok star made a kind of election recommendation for Diakovska, who everyone only calls by her first name. “I actually think I’d call for Lucy,” he said. “Because she hasn’t had a day that wasn’t full of power.”
Disgusting food as a test
That pretty much summed up what qualities Lucy has been winning over since the show started a little over two weeks ago. She was constantly on the move, worried about her fellow campers, and didn’t complain about unpleasant tasks, of which there are many in the outdoor show from the Australian forest. During exams, pure will blazed in her eyes. She also stayed out of the complicated relationship problems between the campers Mike Heiter, Leyla Lahouar and Kim Virginia, who had dominated life around the campfire for days on the show – and not always to everyone’s delight.
Even in her last task, where she was served disgusting food, the singer stayed true to her line. She immediately signaled to moderator Sonja Zietlow and moderator Jan Köppen that she would never, ever stop the exam of her own free will. So it was served. Lucy consistently ate, among other things, a tarantula, a bull’s penis and – with her mouth covered in blood – a pig’s uterus. Four out of five possible stars was the reward. “That’s not a real person,” said Zietlow, who has hosted the show for 20 years, in disbelief.
The competition wasn’t able to make quite as much of an impression. Influencer Twenty4Tim bravely held out in a snake pit and had to experience one of the animals lying down right in the middle of his eyes. And that wasn’t the only problem. “Oh God, I think she just pooped or something. I swear it smells so bad,” he shouted. “Does a snake have a butt hole?” He got five stars. Reality candidate Leyla Lahouar, however, aborted her test, during which, among other things, thousands of mealworms and meat scraps were dumped on her. She cursed the crawling creature: “Why are they crawling around so disgustingly? Why aren’t they chilling?”
Emotional final day
For Lucy, the final day had an almost fateful significance. Right at the beginning of the show, she gave insight into her inner life and said she was proud. “I rarely feel like I deserve something in my life,” she explained. In addition, on the day of her coronation as jungle queen, the release of the No Angels hit “Daylight In Your Eyes” was 23 years ago. The band emerged from the talent show “Popstars”. The single marked a milestone in the singer’s show career.
But the day was also emotionally charged for another reason. “This time the finale is on the anniversary of my mother’s death. Maybe the universe had something in mind,” Lucy had explained before the show began. Now, in the moment of triumph, she shouted “Mommy!” into the Australian sky. She could hardly believe her luck. The astonished presenter duo Zietlow and Köppen were hugged extensively.
As the new jungle ruler, the 47-year-old follows in the footsteps of jungle majesties such as Costa Cordalis, Brigitte Nielsen and Ingrid van Bergen. Her immediate predecessor was the make-up artist and reality TV candidate Djamila Rowe.
She also won prize money of 100,000 euros. Lucy seemed almost surprised by this information. “That’s right!” she shouted when Zietlow told her about it. “Are we the only ones who do this for money,” the moderator then stated.