Did you hesitate when you were asked to participate in this adventure?
Patrick Puydebat. No way ! I had already been asked six years ago for the previous edition, but, to my great regret, I was not able to participate because I was busy with the end of year filming of the Mysteries of loveon TMC. They had the good idea to come back to me for this new season, and this time I was available. As the filming took place at a different time of year, I didn't have the same obligations, and I had time. I was excited to finally go!
How did your Mysteries of Love playing partners react when you announced your participation in The Island?
They had a good laugh. Because they know me and they know that it's been a few years since I stopped exercising, that I let myself go a little, that I gained weight and that I party a little too much. So they told me: “You're really going to drool“. And they were right.
Patrick Puydebat reveals his worst phobia in The Island
What was the hardest part once on the island?
Thirst! I didn't anticipate how hot it would be. It was completely crazy, I felt like we were in Dubai. The water was 38 degrees. It was horror. Seeing our water reserves and the number of people there were, the calculation was quickly made. I said to myself, “We’re going to die of thirst in 12 hours.” In the first episode, everyone is busy with different things. I just cut coconuts for everyone, to hydrate us and to save water as much as possible. Hunger, sleep, that didn't worry me. But thirst terrified me. It was my phobia.
You were stung by a stingray. Can you tell us how it went?
I was knee-deep in water and stepped on something soft. It was a ray. To defend themselves, they turn their tail to sting you like a scorpion. You should know that a ray does not inject venom. Its sting is coated with some kind of very powerful toxin. It was extremely painful. For comparison, it's like having boiling oil injected under your skin.
-Unfortunately, this forced you to abandon the show…
Yes, because this sting must be treated urgently, with doses of horse antibiotics. If not caught on time, it is a severe infection. It can lead to septicemia, necrosis, then amputation. I spent three days in the hospital.
“I cried with rage“: Patrick Puydebat confides in his medical abandonment in The Island
How did you experience this premature end to the adventure?
Clearly, I was crying in the hospital. But no pain, no frustration. I cried with rage. I wanted to sign a waiver and go back.
Was the experience harder than you anticipated?
I completely underestimated the adventure. Or I overestimated myself. Or both! I didn't think it was going to be this hard. Plus, I didn't arrive in good shape. I should have been much more prepared. Already the day before, I got sunstroke during the exercises. I had second degree burns. I had blisters on my hand, I cut my foot. After four hours, I was already in a pitiful state. It felt like I had been there for four years. I didn't give much of my skin.
