François (Koh-Lanta): “We cannot achieve unanimity and please everyone”

In the end, there will only be one… or rather two winners in Koh-Lanta. A rather unusual refrain on this evening of the Fête de la musique, punctuated by the unprecedented victory of François and Bastien against the dean Géraldine, this Tuesday, June 21 on TF1. An epilogue that attracted only 3.2 million followers in front of their screens, six months after the (controversial) season of Legends.

After 39 days of survival, the firefighter from Montpellier confided in Planet the day after his victory. “There was tension until the counting and the final outcome, it was joy and deliverance” assures us the adventurer of Koh-Lanta, The cursed totem. “I was delighted with the outcome, to be able to win and share the victory with Bastien, who is a skilled adventurer”.

Loyal to his ex-yellow opponent, François had a special thought for his supporters. “I thought of my darling who was in the stands with my mother and my little sister. I was thinking very hard of them three who supported me throughout this adventure”, confides the ex-member of the reds before to evoke his father “who, certainly, looks at me from up there and who must be proud of what I have accomplished”.

If he made his loved ones proud with this victory, the 38-year-old Montpellier resident did not expect to go so far in the adventure. “We are never sure of anything in Koh-Lanta, everything can change at any time”, before adding. “Not for a second I told myself that I would go to the end, I had not even imagined it”.

Like many adventurers, François wanted to take up a challenge by participating in the Koh-Lanta adventure. “This is the first time that I have applied”, recognizes with Planet the one who has been a firefighter for 17 years. “It was my sister and my darling who pushed me to apply. They told me that I had the profile of a good adventurer and they were not mistaken”.

From his childhood, François took a liking to adventure and survival with the scouts, but also with his family. “I went camping in the forest in Lozère with my cousin and my uncle,” he says. “Koh-Lanta was an opportunity to live an experience in these conditions and a completely unknown universe”. Under the sun (and rain) of Palawan in the Philippines, the extreme conditions forged his mind. “I was just trying to hold on a little more each day, then we get into a cycle where we hang on and we don’t let go”.

The former member of the green (then red) tribe before reunification was also able to count on his physical form (five individual events won) and his social capital to continue the adventure and form the right alliances. “I like community life and I think it has allowed me to integrate easily into groups,” said the 30-year-old volunteer.

During the Koh-Lanta adventure, the personality of François often reacted on social networks with fans. Prior to the broadcast, where we learn from the media that he is indicted “for manslaughter” after an incident in service in 2016, the firefighter remains presumed innocent to this day. But his directive attitude and his strategies with Amber and Nicolas also divided the web.

From his relationship with social networks, François prefers to retain only the positive of his notoriety acquired thanks to the adventure game animated by Denis Brogniart. “I find that people are still benevolent in everyday life,” he admits to Planet, before continuing. “I try not to necessarily pay attention to it, especially the negative reviews. There are always people who are angry and you can’t like everyone. They pour all their hate on social media. You can’t achieve unanimity and please everyone”.

From his adventure, François also remembers the friendships and unusual moments of life on the camp with Nicolas. “He did a one-man show for us and when the adventure was extremely difficult, he had this ability to make us laugh”, recognizes the Southerner for Planet, as his ally Pauline indicated before.

Especially since the best is yet to come for François after his victory, especially thanks to the 100,000 euros he will share with Bastien. With his winnings, the winner wishes to donate part to a charity, the Work of the pupils of the firefighters. Without forgetting to spoil his loved ones. “I’m going to give some of it to my little sister who pushed me to apply, without whom I wouldn’t have gone to the end of this adventure”, admits the future dad to us in passing, as he announced on the set. of the final live on TF1. “And with the rest, I will prepare for the arrival of my baby who will come next November”.

After the euphoria of victory, François is determined to resume a quiet life in the south of France surrounded by his loved ones. Does he ever plan to go back on an adventure for an All Stars season? “I would study the question if it arose,” he says before concluding. “If I were to sign again, it would be for the challenge aspect, maybe this time to win solo rather than two”.