A happy summer camp is crowding in Fouras, in Charente-Maritime, this Saturday at the end of June. In the port of the city, no one is asked to get on a particular boat. The “fairy of the islands”, that’s her name, has about twenty overexcited children on board, accompanied by their equally enthusiastic relatives. In a few minutes, the boat will take them to a place so secret and popular at the same time: Fort Boyard. There they will record episodes of Slaïm, the ordeal of Cyril Féraud,
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Children and their parents take advantage of the warm summer weather to take a few selfies during the crossing. While the silhouette of the fort takes shape more and more, the children show some signs of excitement: they get up, lean to the side to better see the mythical building. A child rushes to the front of the boat and a form of mimicry immediately sets in: two, three, four children approach to make the most of the finish. It is as if the fort is magnetic.
And suddenly, the meeting with Cyril Gossbo
The thirty minutes which separate Fouras from the monument are an opportunity to get to know our neighbors. Mattéo and Ambre, 13 years old and “12 and a half years old”, are cousins and cousins. “We are so happy. A little bit stressed but it’s good stress ”, they testify in chorus.
A few weeks earlier, the girl’s mother saw the casting announcement pass on Facebook. A video of the two candidates was then to be sent, allowing the production to examine their complicity and their ability to express themselves well. “We shouted when we knew we were taken,” say the two children who then revised a little by doing quizzes and answering logic questions at home.
“Wow, he’s beautiful! That’s it, the time has come for the troop to set foot on the floor of the 200-year-old fort. “We imagine incredible things and it’s even more incredible,” says a child when entering. In the enclosure, Cyril Féraud (alias Cyril Gossbo) hurries through the corridors, dressed in his extra-shiny golden jacket. When a little girl crosses him for real, the tension is palpable. ” How are you ? », Asks the host. Impressed, she barely manages to get a word out.
“We had to be friends before the start”
Although a shower of stars crosses the eyes of little girls and boys during the visit, there is no time to waste: everyone is there to turn around. Slaïm, the ordeal embodied by the host of Slam. Before they enter the room, the pairs of children get to know Cyril Gossbo. He greets them, asks them how they are feeling and warns them: “if you lean too far forward, you’re going to have all the slime running down your back”.
“It’s an essential moment” to take the time to get to know them, says Cyril Féraud to 20 minutes afterwards. “Watching TV is not normal, you cannot be comfortable. We have to talk to you before, that we explain to you, ”he deciphers. During the filming of the first sequence, the host deliberately did not meet the pair to keep an effect of surprise under the eyes of the cameras. A tactic that he did not repeat afterwards. “I immediately felt that for the eleven following episodes, I had to talk to them and that, somewhere, we were already friends before the start,” he testifies.
A funny look at the exit of the game
A few tens of minutes later, we find Mattéo and Ambre with their t-shirt Fort Boyard, ready to find out in front of Cyril Gossbo. “Are you next, are you in a hurry?” A member of the production asks them. “Oh yeah,” they both reply, stamping impatiently and stamping their feet on the ground.
The cousin and the cousin enter the cell. The goal of the game is simple: they are asked three questions and the candidates must buzz faster than their opponent to give their answer. If it is correct, their competitor gets slime on the head. If it is wrong, a good quantity of viscous liquid falls on itself. Without spoiler the final result, Ambre and Mattéo come out of their game soaked. the ears, ”laughs Mattéo.
A shoot after the shoot
The filming of their event finished, a vacuum cleaner runs at full speed to swallow the slime and make the cell as clean as possible for the next pair. Meanwhile, Ambre and Mattéo take a shower. The parents have planned a change of clothes and the mother is busy redoing her daughter’s quilts. If we ever lost track of them, the two children would be easy to spot: just follow the slime tracks scattered along the stairs.
No rest for the valiant warriors who, after having regained their normal colors, are called in to debrief the ordeal with a journalist from the show. “Wow, there is Blanche’s throne [un personnage de l’émission] », Exclaims the 12-and-a-half-year-old girl arriving in the interview room.
Engine, it’s running! The duo are instructed to tell their experience in the present tense to insert the interview throughout the show. “It feels like taking a frozen shower, it’s all viscous. We can no longer hear anything around us, ”says Ambre. “It’s very cold, my teeth chatter when I have the slime on me,” Mattéo adds. All smiles, the children thank Cyril Gossbo for the moment they have spent.
A little more than three hours after having pushed open the doors of the fort, the children take the (sea) road to return to the port, not without a hint of sadness in their eyes. ” Bye Bye Fort Boyard », Some sing, promising to come back to finally meet Passe-Partout and Father Fouras.