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INTERVIEW – Stéphanie (Koh-Lanta 2022): “I didn’t expect it to be so hard!”
The poker croupier Stéphanie distinguished herself on Koh-Lanta for her sense of strategy but also for her incredible bad luck, shooting black balls five times in a row during the tests. Eliminated for the first time in episode 5 then in episode 6 broadcast this Tuesday, April 5, 2022, the adventurer told her story at Gala.fr.
If she had had a glimmer of hope returning to the adventure thanks medically abandoned by Jean-Philippe after her elimination from the yellow team in episode 5, Stephanie has definitely left Koh-Lanta : The cursed totem in the last episode broadcast on TF1 this Tuesday, April 5, 2022. The poker dealer was eliminated by her new red team, not having had time to reintegrate. The 35-year-old candidate was counting on his ability to make fire, on his sense of logic and on his natural good humor to go as far as possible. The Parisian however had bad luck, shooting the black balls five times in a row putting it systematically offside of the tests. An extraordinary experience to which she agreed to return for Gala.fr.
Gala.fr: What made you want to embark on the Koh-Lanta adventure?
Stephanie: I am a very curious person and I love doing exceptional things and it is difficult to do more exceptional than Koh-Lanta. It’s the extraordinary adventure side that pushed me to do this.
Gala.fr: In what state of mind did you enter the adventure?
Stephanie: Very impressed… I really didn’t expect to be cast. I had so no athletic abilities that I was still shocked to have been taken. When I found myself on the boat at the start and saw all these people with their sporting careers, I was very impressed and very scared.
Gala.fr: What was the hardest thing for you during this adventure?
Stephanie: For me the hardest part was the nights. In survival I expected it to be hard but I didn’t expect it to be also hard. The fact of sleeping cold, always soaked with an incredible back pain because of the bamboos and never having a comfortable position… Sleeping one or two hours a night was really terrible.
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Stephanie had some “Fed up” to shoot black balls
Gala.fr: You were hit by the black ball five times, it’s quite incredible… I imagine that it was a huge frustration for you not to be able to take part in so many events.
Stephanie: Ah yes, that’s the least we can say. The black balls record on Koh-Lanta is me! I did not think when I arrived on Koh-Lanta to obtain a record but then even less that one. It was worse than frustration at one point it was mostly pissed off. It’s indecent to have had so many.
Gala.fr: What were your favorite events?
Stephanie: I am a logical person, we saw it in the first test. I completed my puzzle in 2 minutes and 30 seconds, compared to 1:15 for the boys at the end. The balance beam also I would have been very good because when I was a teenager, I did competitive gymnastics. I am very good at archery. I’m very good at a lot of tests that usually come after reunification. Me, my faults are strength and cardio and swimming, but I still know how to swim.
Gala.fr: Do you think that these black balls cost you your adventure?
Stephanie: In part… I think there is a first part of my adventure that I myself scuttled, when I said that I was useless in sport. It was clearly me who shot myself the first time in the foot. Indeed the black balls were the second ball since I could not prove the opposite.
Gala.fr: You said in an interview that Alexandra had acted in the opposite direction: she proclaimed loud and clear that she was a good element and that convinced the other adventurers on her team to keep her.
Stephanie: I don’t know when she gets eliminated but in any case I can’t wait to see it! But indeed she arrived saying “I know how to do this, I know how to do that, I’m super talented in this, in that…”. In short, she oversold herself on everything and it worked well. But just because she says she’s strong doesn’t mean she is. Clearly, Alexandra was very strong in swimming but afterwards for the rest… logically she was not, she did not understand the rules, she was stubborn, she wanted to take the lead but suddenly it was to the detriment of others who would have been much better and who could have done things better. We lost two events because of her.
Gala.fr: You still tried to develop rather well thought out strategies before your two eliminations. Have you developed this strategic aspect of your personality thanks to your job as a croupier?
Stephanie: It’s a good question. The strategy is not something innate to me because it is not the quality of very whole people like me. But it’s true that the job of croupier helps to think differently so yes, it probably helped. I always find after the fact, finally after my two eliminations, that my strategies were good.
Gala.fr: Have you discovered a new talent that you did not suspect?
Stephanie: I know I can be strategic when playing poker. Now with human beings it’s different. This is where I was afraid on Koh-Lanta. It’s still very different than playing with cards. I also haven’t been confronted with betrayal, for example when you have to lie straight in the eye to someone.
“At the reds, it was thinking way too much”
Gala.fr: You had the opportunity to live with the two yellow and red tribes. What did you think of these two teams respectively?
Stephanie: I love my yellow team. Very whole people, with strong characters and who say things to each other. Sometimes it clashes a little precisely because they are very whole characters. But the yellow team is a very real, very passionate team. The red team, I have a few more reservations. The strategist side is part of Koh-Lanta but I find that it was much too developed among the reds. It was thinking way too much. There was too much anticipation, they were trying to control everything all the time. So I found that it took away a lot of passion and sincerity. That’s a shame.
Gala.fr: So in the end it softened your second elimination by the reds?
Stephanie: Completely. The fact of being eliminated from a team where you don’t necessarily feel good, it alleviates the pain!
Gala.fr: Are there one or more candidates with whom you particularly get along?
Stephanie: Among the yellows, clearly with Anne-Sophie and that’s why I see her now. Among the reds, I was quite a fan of François because he is really funny and in a good mood. Even when he’s hungry and wants to eat, he says it with humor. Besides, he carried me a lot on my black balls!
Gala.fr: Did you see other candidates outside of the adventure apart from Anne-Sophie?
Stephanie: Yes, we saw Anne-Sophie again three days ago. We had dinner together because I was in Greece and she was too so it was convenient. Afterwards, I saw Matteo a lot again. Two weeks ago I went to a restaurant with the adventurers who were passing through Paris so I had the opportunity to chat with Olga, Colin, François… it made me happy to see them.
Gala.fr: What was the first thing you did when you returned to France?
Stephanie: The first thing I did when I got home was sleep. I had a nice welcoming committee. My friends had reserved a nice surprise for me, with my mother my best friend, my best friend and my cousin. I went to bed and it took me a while to recover because it’s still very intense to do survival for 17 days. I had a little time to adapt in terms of health and when I got back on my feet, I went to eat a rib steak at the restaurant.
Gala.fr: Were your loved ones proud of your career?
Stephanie: They are into it. Yes my relatives were happy. When I told my mother that I had registered for Koh-Lanta, she had screamed in fear, telling me “But you’re not going to do that! It’s far too dangerous! Plus you don’t play sports!”. My mother didn’t expect me to go this far. And my friends had all ordered me to be the one to make the fire.
Gala.fr: You took up the fire challenge with flying colors, indeed. Is this your biggest victory on Koh-Lanta?
Stephanie: Yes clearly. The fire was my mission, especially when you have all your entourage who charge you with this mission. It puts the pressure on!
Gala.fr: Did the Koh-Lanta adventure bring you what you were looking for?
Stephanie: Yes but even more. I had gone looking for adventure on Koh-Lanta, but on top of that I learned great things about myself, I learned that I was stronger than I thought, that I was capable to swim 150 meters in the sea… lots of things for which I am proud of myself. It gave me a lot of confidence.