The final duel of the eighth episode of Beijing Express, in the land of the golden eagleairing this Thursday on M6, was fatal to Jean-Claude and Axel. It was the fourth cleaver game in a row for the grandfather and his grandson who, this time, lost to Jeremy and Fanny. “I was not at all in the same state of mind as the other three times, confides the young man to 20 Minutes. Of course we wanted to stay and go as far as possible, but the stage had been very hard physically and mentally. I told myself that if I lost, it was not very serious. »
“I was very sad knowing that it couldn’t last because we had just gone through a very trying stage”, confirms his grandpa, who had indeed not been able to go to the end of the trek in the Wadi Rum desert. (Jordan).
“France will be in mourning…”
The pair claims to have “no regrets” and to have lived “an exceptional adventure”. “In the family, everyone is very proud of us. Nobody was waiting for us in the last four, ”says Jean-Claude. If Axel followed the season with his friends in Montpellier (Hérault) where he studies, the septuagenarian had got into the habit of watching each episode with the rest of the family in the Gers cradle. He expected that the viewing of this Thursday would be complicated: he bought three boxes of paper tissues for the occasion.
It is not only at home that the tears must have flowed at the end of the episode: the grandfather and the grandson formed the favorite pair of the public. “We receive lots of positive messages, it makes us very happy. Frankly, we are not sent anything negative, I know that, for other pairs, it is different, ”assures Axel, contacted by telephone on Tuesday. He fears the reaction of viewers to their elimination: “France is going to be in mourning…” Jean-Claude cuts him off, bursting out laughing: “In mourning!? What are you talking about ? “People are going to be sad. I dread the reactions, ”says his grandson.
We are told that we are doing good to people, that surprises me”
The ancestor does not give him complete wrong. “We are told that we are doing good to people, that surprises me. In the street, I receive marks of affection, he says. The children recognize me. The other day, I was talking with someone near the exit of a school. The kids, seeing me, all wanted to take a picture. I found it fabulous, it’s a pleasure. But I still told them that I was not happy that they spent their evenings in front of the TV. »
“There is in this grandfather/grandson bond an aspect of initiatory journey, of passing the torch, of learning, of wisdom. It’s a story that is very nice to watch.” summarized Thierry Guillaumethe producer of Beijing Express, before the start of the season. This is indeed what the public has been able to see over the episodes: the mutual support, the tenderness, the ardor of youth rebalanced by the serenity of the experience. “It’s a great adventure, insists Jean-Claude. I listen to my grandson with another ear. He grew up all of a sudden. He has become quite big. »