Dubai, the El Dorado of reality TV influencers: Nabilla, Jazz, Hillary… "they sell dreams in a dream setting"

Our series “

Influencers in Dubai

” in five episodes

:

Nabilla, Jazz, Hillary… "they sell dreams in a dream setting"

"Now we are all here"

The birth of a cash machine

Dubai had it all planned

The "French bad" crispe locals and expatriates

11 a.m. in Dubai.

8 hours, in France.

Sarah Lopez posted her first story of the day on her Instagram account.

Its 1.5 million followers wake up when they discover the program of the day.

“Interview with the Parisian” and “Moment Girls”, she writes under a photo of herself, smiling and dressed in a little purple top with a plunging neckline.

Today in February 2021, Sarah will post 30 events, photos or videos for the attention of her community.

Facing the camera, she invites her audience to her hotel room as soon as she wakes up, then to the brunch of the establishment tested in the company of her friends - also in representation for their fans - and finally to a dinner with friends at the restaurant.

“I tell everything I do,” explains Sarah Lopez, seated in front of a steaming cappuccino.

At 29, this former star of "Secret story" belongs to the club of fashionable influencers, from reality shows.

“The reality TV candidate is a person whose life exists through social networks, learnedly theorizes Sam Zirah, producer of a YouTube channel dedicated to them.

"If the plots of his life are not posted, life does not exist," he concludes.

And neither does business.

The exposure of their daily life is a livelihood.

The job is to place branded products for remuneration.

Sarah Lopez saw an increase in her subscriber base the day she moved to Dubai.

LP / Fred Dugit

At the end of January, Sarah Lopez took up residence in the Dubai marina, the promised land of European Instagrammers, thus joining a growing colony of French people.

Jessica Thivenin (5.8 million followers on insta), Caroline Receveur (3.9) or Queen Nabilla Benattia (6.3) have shown the example by putting their bags in this microstate of the Gulf.

Pool, restaurants and boat trips: life goes on in Dubai

The Covid-19 crisis precipitated the exodus.

In the midst of European paralysis, the city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), its sun and its open restaurants, has become a land of plenty.

“Telling about his confinement, it works for a while.

But it's not glamorous, observes Sam Zirah.

You have to show that you have a social life, the content of your plate, your activities… It is a profession of image.

"

A few days before her meeting with the Parisian, Sarah Lopez staged her afternoon on the boat with a group of friends.

The day before, she was testing the swimming pool of a luxury hotel flanked by her friend Hillary Vanderosieren (2 million on the insta counter), an ex "Ch'tis" from W9.

“I want to get people who follow me out of their daily lives,” says the young woman.

When they get home from work, they don't need to look at someone slumped on their couch.

I want to make them travel.

“Between the desert, the sea and the spectacular architecture of the emirate, its subscribers and advertisers are served.

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In France, Giovanni Bonamy, Hillary's companion could no longer "be creative" for its content.

“In Paris, it was gray, we were cold, we were ugly in the photos, confesses the young man, Here, the light is too beautiful.

I just have to leave my house to take a nice photo.

"

Influencers Giovanni Bonamy and Hillary Vanderosieren fled Paris for Dubai, its light and its sun.

LP / Fred Dugit

"Reality TV never stops with Dubai," analyzes sociologist Nathalie Nadaud-Albertini, media specialist.

We used to have candidates in pretty sets of shows shot abroad.

There, it's the same, but in life.

In Dubai, they sell dreams with dreamy sets.

"

The French benefit from a strategic three-hour shift for business.

"Here, I am not under stress to tell myself that it is 6 pm, that I have not returned home and that I must make my placement," says Sarah Lopez.

Because brands are very picky about the time of day when advertisements for their products are posted.

Morning or evening, “jet lag is perfect for us.

If I have planned a day at the beach until 5 pm, I am at ease, ”says Sarah.

Influencer, a work "without day off"

In a few days under the Middle Eastern sun, the strategy has already paid off for Sarah.

“I have noticed a real increase in my number of subscribers since I have been here,” she says, “impatient” to have the keys to her new apartment.

The candidate of the Angels assures him, she does not scrutinize her follower credit every day.

Yet the numbers matter.

It makes it possible to measure its influence and its value on the market.

Each year, Sarah participates in one or two shows to establish her notoriety and flirt with new fans on the networks.

At the end of the shoots, new brands, baited by her score, approach her to sell their products.

“It's a job without any day off,” she explains, before lighting up a cigarette.

On the networks, we have the impression that we are doing nothing, but in fact, it's work.

"

The most influential earn several thousand euros per day thanks to this system and live "the high life" in Dubai.

The emirate rolls out the red carpet for them to seduce them, thus boosting tourism and blurring the conservative image of the peninsula.

"It's all very taboo in France", judge Dylan Thiry, made famous by "Koh-Lanta" in 2017. The influencer with 700,000 subscribers has been installed in the Gulf for a year.

We find him at the luxury hotel, the Five Palm, where he has lived since his break up with Fiji Ruiz, who is also making a small career in the world of reality TV.

“In France, I couldn't wear a nice watch.

It was too risky.

My car was spitting up, it was scratched… ”he breathes.

Guaranteed security

The ostentatious and almost instantaneous wealth of influencers sometimes barely 20 years old attracts envy.

Sarah Lopez, she suffered two burglary attempts last summer in her house in the south of France.

The Ransom of Glory, streamed on social media.

“On Instagram, I mentioned myself 2 hours from home.

And my mother saw three hooded guys in my garden in the middle of the afternoon, she is moved.

I was so scared.

I had to sleep with a guard in my backyard the first night.

"

Made famous by “Koh-Lanta” in 2017, Dylan Thiry (right) appreciates the security that reigns in Dubai.

LP / Fred Dugit

“The reality TV candidates are a bit like new footballers,” observes Magali Berdah, head of the largest agency of reality TV influencers, who briefly answers the phone.

They are targets.

I myself have been robbed three times in eight months.

"

Dubai provides its guests with total security.

"Here, I can sleep with the door open, nothing will happen," says Sarah.

"In France, I walked around the house four times before going to bed," adds Giovanni Bonamy.

Now I sleep soundly.

"

This peace of mind comes at a price, however.

The emirate, although it is relatively lenient with its foreign hosts, is governed by Islamic law.

The authorities have just announced that the consumption of alcohol or cohabitation outside marriage will be relaxed.

This summer the French expatriate community in Dubai was called to order by a trivial incident.

Two French people on vacation had picked up an envelope full of money in the street before spending all the contents.

The Dubai police had no trouble finding them.

The city is riddled with surveillance cameras.

The two reckless were sentenced to several months in prison.

“The law is the law in Dubai.

If that doesn't suit you, you go elsewhere, whispers an expat.

At least you feel safe everywhere.

Maeva Ghennam paid the price.

On December 4, barely arrived in Dubai, the stormy Marseille, was arrested in a shopping center for being too light.

The excessive heat argument did not convince the authorities and she had to pay a fine.

The young woman promised to adapt to local rules.

A golden cage.

But with a few bars ...

Read episode 2: "Now we're all here"

Caroline Receveur, Nabilla, Jazz Correia, her husband Laurent, or even Dylan Thiry… they are all there.

The pearl of the Emirates has become the El Dorado of French reality TV.

Hillary Vanderosieren and her companion Giovanni Bonamy show us around their 600 m2 villa in a luxury residence in the middle of the desert.