"I can't go on like this. I'm reaching the end of my physical and mental abilities, I'm at the end of the line. “
In the episode broadcast this Tuesday on TF1, on the fourteenth day of
“Koh-Lanta, the sacred fire”
, Benjamin decided to abandon the adventure.
It was on returning from a lost comfort test with his yellow team that the 23-year-old sailor announced his decision to production.
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The idea had been floating around in his head for several days.
“Even before the raft event, I knew I was going to leave, it was decided in my head.
I wanted to do this last test for my team.
If we had won, I wouldn't have touched the chickens.
I had told my teammates about it”
, he confided to us.
And for good reason, the young man was the victim of an accident while practicing underwater fishing.
“Going down deep, I must have been 4-5 meters away, suddenly my left ear burst.
I went straight up because the pain was excruciating
,” he says.
Back on the beach, Nicolas, one of his teammates, quickly contacted the TF1 game doctor.
"
It could be an ear infection with barotrauma, we'll look into that.
I'm going to take you with me to the infirmary to monitor your pain, to be sure that there is no infection which is added to your ear infection.
I will keep you under surveillance
,” the doctor announced.
"I had no energy at all, I had no more muscles, I couldn't get up, to do ordinary things"
Benjamin, candidate for "Koh-Lanta, the sacred fire" on TF1
After a night spent under observation, confirming that it was indeed an ear infection, Benjamin was able to return to the adventure by being prohibited from putting his head under water for about ten days.
A heartbreaker for the young man.
“I was disgusted because I love spearfishing.
I spent a lot of time there, it had become my favorite pastime
,” he admits.
Despite the prescription of drops and antibiotics,
"the pain was still present, not only in the ear but also on the entire left side of the face"
.
Added to this is the lack of food, sleepless nights due to tropical rains, humidity and cold.
"I had no more energy at all, I had no more muscles, I didn't
, justifies Benjamin who in the space of two weeks has lost 7 kilos, going from 73 kilos to 66 kilos.
"Knowing that I am very clever, I had nothing more to lose"
, he underlines.
His only comfort, at that time, was to learn that Tania was going to replace him.
If since season 11 of “Koh-Lanta” shot in 2011 in Indonesia, voluntary abandonments are no longer replaced, the production of the TF1 game has decided to change the rules for “The Sacred Fire”.
"A decision made before the start of filming to surprise the adventurers"
, answers us ALP.
A change that Benjamin was unaware of.
“I asked myself the question but I did not know it.
To see that it was Tania who was going to rejoin the adventure, I was really happy that it was her and not another adventurer.
»
Benjamin and Tania, candidates for "Koh-Lanta, the sacred fire" on TF1.
Screenshot.
Since the first day, because of their respective ages (23 and 22 years old), Benjamin and Tania have become very close.
“He was my buddy in the adventure.
I spent most of my time with her.
It's my friendly favorite of the season.
We were the two youngest, we were united, we both stuck together
, ”recalls the Marseille sailor.
Not just the elbows.
On the eighth awakening of the adventure, they were surprised by the cameras sleeping intertwined under the hut.
Benjamin, positioned on his stomach, then appeared glued to Tania, lying at his side, one leg and one arm resting on him.
A subjective position that quickly fueled gossip.
However, Benjamin assures him:
“It was survival.
I asked myself the question but if we wanted to sleep, if only for a few hours, there was no other solution than human warmth.
At night, it was cold and damp so with Tania, we were stuck like other adventurers have been able to do.
But here we are, it buzzed because we are the two singles of this adventure
.
“No one ever criticized me, no one ever said anything to me”
Benjamin, candidate for "Koh-Lanta, the sacred fire" on TF1
It is also together that they have been the target of criticism from other adventurers.
“The others were doing a lot of things, they never stopped.
With Tania, we also did things but at times we were less active than the others.
But we were not inactive as one might think.
There are some who only brought wood all day while we brought back food: shellfish, crabs, fish,”
defends Benjamin.
Reproaches that he discovered while watching “Koh-Lanta” on television.
“On the spot, nobody ever made me a single criticism, I was never told anything.
It was when I saw the episodes that I discovered that an adventurer said that Tania and I were doing nothing
, he laments.
I would have preferred that someone tell me directly, in this way, I could have answered certain people.
»
Read also“Koh-Lanta”: who are the eleven other candidates to have voluntarily abandoned the game in the past?
When leaving the yellow island, Denis Brogniart wanted to warn him:
“All those who gave up in “Koh-Lanta” regretted it”
.
Yet Benjamin has no regrets.
“When I think about how I was at that time, I can't regret.
I just couldn't give more.
Of course, I'm going to be bad seeing all the hardships I could have done, the good times I missed but I couldn't anymore
, ”says the young man.
And too bad the eyes of others.
“It's shame for me compared to my father, my family, my colleagues.
It's going to be terrible, I'm going to be chambered on all sides
, ”he laughs.
