It’s almost the end of “Koh-Lanta: The Cursed Tribe”. This Tuesday, November 26 marks a crucial step, with orientation. But while the finalists compete to reach the posts, another story comes to the forefront: that of a candidate who was completely erased during a past season.
“For reasons that belong to him, you will not see his image”
This took place in 2009. The season entitled “Koh-Lanta, Palau” then experienced a unique case in the history of the program. Joëlle, a retired teacher, had asked not to appear on screen. She was therefore not present in the credits, and her name was not mentioned on television. Only a voice-over noted his absence on air: “An adventurer also lost this game and, for reasons of her own, you will not see her image. She is leaving 'Koh-Lanta' for good.“
Questioned by “Télé-Loisirs”, Julien Magne, producer of the show, lifted the veil on this singular episode. “During editing, one person was cut entirely at their request. There had been a big mistake during the selections and it was someone who was very frustrated to be eliminated on the first day of the adventure. But apart from this case, there have been no other requests”he explains.
At the time, Joëlle spoke to “L’Indépendant”: “I was sacrificed. I was manipulated. Conditions like this for the 'Koh-Lanta' of the heroes agree, 'Fear Factor' (old show in which the candidates were confronted with their most stubborn fears, editor's note) too, but not for the 'Koh-Lanta' of the anonymous. I was inconsolable.“Selected among the 18 candidates to participate in the adventure, Joëlle was eliminated in the first test, before the distribution of the teams, a bit like in this season of “The Cursed Tribe”, which sent the first fallen candidates on a hostile island so that they benefit from a second chance.
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“The collapse. All this 5 month preparation. My goal was not to win but to be eliminated in the regular way after the color distribution… I was excluded before the game started. is the unexperienced that I do not accept.“A first test set up immediately upon arrival, afterwards according to her,”a whole night on a boat in the middle of a storm, parked at the front of the boat. Sick candidates who stepped on each other to vomit overboard… There was a real risk taken”she says. Denouncing the “trap” or, “hell“what is the TF1 show, she even assured that she had considered ending her life upon her return.
This case remains an exception in the history of the program. As Julien Magne reminds our colleagues, “by committing to 'Koh-Lanta', the candidates know that it is an adventure which is filmed and which will be broadcast afterwards. In more than twenty seasons, we have never had any complaints from adventurers who don't recognize themselves in the show.”
