The portrait of
Léa Notardonado
in
“Koh-Lanta, the immunity hunters”
commands admiration.
At 22 years old, the Sétoise is an accomplished sportswoman, French champion in sports lifesaving in 2016.
“I train four times a week in running and bodybuilding, once a week in Crossfit and swimming
,” explains the student nurse and volunteer firefighter.
I can't wait to impress everyone.
»
To discover
TV program this evening: our selection of the day
Like William Plancq, a 62-year-old wilderness survival specialist, Léa began the adventure on the fourth day after a comfort test.
Even if she was presented by
Denis Brogniart
as a strong element to the other candidates, this configuration made her integration into the game, within the Reds team, more difficult.
“Koh-Lanta, the immunity hunters”: the 22 candidates
Access the slideshow (24)
Also read “Koh-Lanta” for dummies: what are the rules of the TF1 adventure game?
LE FIGARO. - Were you aware, before leaving for the Philippines, that you were going to start the game from the fourth day?
Léa NOTARDONADO.
-
No, unfortunately, I learned the news the day before I joined the game. I have a starting contract, and not a reservist, like the other participants.
I went through the same casting call as everyone else, I was notified three weeks before filming that I was selected.
The production had planned to start me, like William, from the fourth day but we didn't know about it.
How did you react when you heard this news?
It showed on the screen that I didn't take it very well.
I wasn't ready for that, I was very destabilized.
Before leaving, we all have an idea of the adventure that awaits us, we perhaps tend to idealize it.
I was light years from suspecting that I was going to start on the fourth day, I was caught off guard.
What was your strategy to best integrate into your Matukad team?
I tried to make myself more or less small!
(Laughs.) I know that I tend to naturally take leadership and that I have a strong character.
I felt that I had no room for error and that I was expected to turn the corner.
You had to say yes to everything, and not stay too far back either... It was a happy medium to find that was difficult to find.
Julie and Maxime welcomed me, they were very kind.
“My team expected to see Clémence Castel arrive”
Léa Notardonado
Did you feel like you weren't welcome around certain people?
I felt it from the start.
Some expected that the reinforcements announced by Denis Brogniart would be former candidates from “Koh-Lanta”, they expected to see a Clémence Castel arrive rather than a Léa.
My team therefore had this double disappointment in addition to not having had the choice of the adventurer.
I integrated Matukad by default.
Among the criticisms expressed against you, some find you too individualistic on the camp as in the tests...
I was indeed told this but I had difficulty with the reproaches that were made to me.
I felt like someone was falling on me at the slightest opportunity.
I know I'm not blameless, I'm wrong, but the slightest flaw was magnified.
If I stayed lying down in the camp, I was blamed for it, but another adventurer wasn't...
Was your performance in the apnea immunity test properly appreciated?
(Sighs.) Honestly, it was a mixed bag.
I understood that it was not enough.
This test was considered very easy by most of my partners.
Léa receives the immunity totem from the hands of Denis Brogniart in “Koh-Lanta, the immunity hunters” TF1 screen capture
“It was Léa’s burning at the stake”
Léa Notardonado
Despite a relatively comfortable camp, a suitable level of nutrition and a string of victories, tensions are omnipresent among the Reds...
From my point of view, it's too much of a summer camp where everything is seemingly beautiful and rosy .
There are still ten of us, that's a lot.
It's difficult to be totally united in "Koh-Lanta" while being so numerous because, sooner or later, we will have to eliminate each other.
There is a lot of hypocrisy and ulterior strategies...
How did you experience this moment when the entire team attacked you?
I called this sequence the burning of Léa.
It was a bad time to go through.
When I confided in Mégane, who was the adventurer I liked the most with Jean, I told her the esteem I had for her and the fact that someone had warned me against her .
I revealed this to him because I liked him and I wanted to open his eyes to the people around him.
I didn't think she would repeat it to everyone at all.
And no one admitted to having made comments against Mégane...
I refused to give the name of the person who said that to me, I knew that it had not been filmed and that it was going to be his words against mine.
In a group where I was a sort of plague victim, I had no chance of anyone believing me in front of Émilie.
I was hoping that Mégane would find it on her own and that ended up being the case.
Émilie, between Léa and Mégane, in “Koh-Lanta, the immunity hunters” TF1 screen capture
“Reunification is a dream that vanished when I entered the game on the fourth day”
Léa Notardonado
When you find yourself overwhelmed by so many people at the same time, do you consider leaving?
Totally, I didn't expect at all that the social aspect would be problematic for me in "Koh-Lanta".
I am used to meeting people of all ages and from all backgrounds in my daily life, at no time have I doubted my ability to integrate during the game. I found myself apart and, at the slightest opportunity, someone would fall on me.
It was very complicated to feel rejected.
Despite the difficulty, you never gave up...
I especially didn't want to give them the impression that I wasn't doing well.
I told myself that if I started crying, they would use it to say that they were eliminating me for my own good.
I built a shell for myself and that explains why you don't see me smile much.
It was too complicated for me to pretend.
On the twelfth day of your adventure, are you planning towards reunification to get out of this situation?
Reunification is a dream that vanished when I entered the game on the fourth day.
My goal at that time was not to lose the immunity tests because I knew very well that I would be the first to come out.
When I saw that the other team had taken William out at the first opportunity, I had confirmation of what I had feared all along.
You may shine and do positive things, but the core is already formed in each team.
Léa Notardonado in “Koh-Lanta, the immunity hunters” Screenshot TF1
“Perhaps it is because I suffered at a social level that I did not suffer from hunger, fatigue and boredom”
Léa Notardonado
Have you measured the risk of participating in “Koh-Lanta” on this physique that you maintain daily?
It was a complicated aspect that I thought about before registering but I judged that “Koh-Lanta” was worth it.
Under game conditions, muscles melt like snow in the sun.
It took me ten years to build this physique but I wanted to seize this exceptional opportunity.
How did you feel after eight days in the game?
Perhaps it is because I suffered on a social level that I did not suffer from hunger, fatigue and boredom.
It felt like home, I never felt tired or hungry.
I think the social plan occupied my mind so much that there was no room for anything else.
The only time weakness was felt was when I had to run.
Were you dreading discovering this fourth episode of “Koh-Lanta, the immunity hunters” on TF1?
Yes really.
I came to this game for the surpassing of oneself and the physical challenges, not to take the lead.