It’s an unexpected elimination! Since the start of the race Beijing Express, The epic of the maharajaslaunched in India on September 14, Rose-Marie and Cinzia pranced at the top of the ranking. The two friends from season 14 had won the first event and were able to enjoy a visit to the Taj Mahal. They also won the first amulet of the season, against six other emblematic pairs of this All-stars edition. It was during this third episode, broadcast this Saturday, September 28, that things got bad for those who have been friends since 2006. The girls, who have participated in all the immunity events since the launch of the race, suffered a series of complications on the last day. Arriving last in front of Stéphane Rotenberg, they lost to Fabrice and Briac during the final duel. They therefore join Hoang and Quyen and Nathalie and Angie on the bench of those eliminated. Today, they react to their departure from the show.
“I know what we could have changed” : what Rose-Marie and Cinzia would have liked to do differently to stay in Pékin Express All-stars
Tele-Leisure : You’ve had an almost flawless run since the start, wasn’t the elimination all the tougher?
Cynthia : But yes, it’s horrible. That’s also it Pékin Express, nothing is ever acquired. We had a dark day, this was it and it was fatal for us. Whereas in normal seasons, there is always the possibility of being drafted, but this was not the case so it cost us our place.
Do you have any regrets about your race? Things you would do differently?
Rose-Marie : A multitude of adventures have happened to us. The day started with peppers…
C : I know what we could have changed, I should have eaten the peppers…
R-M : No, because you had to eat goat testicles and you couldn’t swallow anything, that’s why. Because we know that Cinzia chews much faster than me, I eat in two hours what others eat in fifteen minutes (laughs). We went from winning the red flag by a fraction of a second to finding ourselves finishing last after a disastrous day. It was the worst day we had in both seasons combined.. It started with the peppers which had taken all my energy in the morning, then running out of gas…
“Fabrice and Briac would have chosen us too” : Rose-Marie and Cinzia look back on their elimination from Beijing Express, The epic of the maharajas
Rose-Marie, how did you like the test where you had to swallow five peppers in record time?
R-M : It took me, I think, three weeks to get over it. Claire and I are the same, we don’t ask questions and we swallowed it with unprecedented speed. It was when it stopped that our body reacted with great violence. I think if we had won the red flag, my body would have tolerated it better.
You chose to face friends for the final duel, does that make things even more difficult?
R-M : You should know that I hosted Fabrice and Briac at home in Geneva. But we were close to everyone so it was a difficult choice. Clément and Émeline were with us at the front of the race regularly.
C : Then Papi JC and Axel had just had two final duels, so there was really a feeling of injustice that set in. We wanted to spare them because we had been chosen twice in a row in the final duel too and frankly it’s hard. Fabrice and Briac had not been brilliant the day before, Clément and Émeline had done the immunity test with us on stage 2 and stage 3. And you should know that if it had been the opposite situation, Fabrice and Briac would have chosen us too, so there are no hard feelings.
“We never came last”: the fall of Rose-Marie and Cinzia, a promising pair of Beijing Express, The epic of the maharajas
Cinzia, you arrive in front of Rose-Marie laughing at the end of the final duel. What are you thinking at that moment?
C : I was already aware that I had fallen behind on the driveway, although I was very fast on the mission, I quickly realized on the way back that it was dead. I only wanted one thing, and that was to join Rosie to prevent her from going through this alone, I didn’t at all want her to have to endure the wait.
R-M : For me it was the opposite, I said to myself: “My God, I can’t wait for this ordeal to end for her. Poor thing, she’s still in there even though it’s all over.” When I saw her arrive with a smile, we burst out laughing because we said to ourselves that it really was a dark day from A to Z. She arrived just a few minutes after Briac.
C : I think we demonstrated what a shitty day it was. (laughs). Whatever happens we enjoy it, I smile because I don’t want her to feel sad. Our entire relationship is represented in that moment. because we want every moment to be a moment of happiness. We said to ourselves that we were still lucky to have made another Pékin Express and to have come this far.
What was the most difficult thing for you in this race?
R-M : The whole last day was terrible. You should know thatwe never arrived lastthroughout our first season this never happened. Nobody expected it. Nothing is decided, especially in a season like this. The slightest incident costs us dearly. Since it’s shorter, everything is condensed. Since the first day, we have had no respite, emotionally it is super intense. I feel like there were handicaps all the time.
C : Pékin Express it’s so full of unexpected things. We would never have imagined arriving last, from the third stage.
