Former candidate in Koh Lanta accused of sexually assaulting a competitor during filming – Libération

A man accused of forcibly trying to kiss another candidate in 2018 in Fiji has been charged with sexual assault, Le Parisien and BFMTV revealed on Thursday, March 28. Filming was stopped immediately.

The nineteenth season of Koh-Lanta never aired. In question, it was initially explained in May 2018 by TF1 and the production company Adventure Line Productions (ALP), responsible for producing the reality TV, “external event” Which forced them to stop filming that was taking place in Fiji. Event in question: A candidate accused one of her competitors of sexually assaulting her in the middle of the night, while filming the program.

The latter, who always denied the facts, was arrested immediately after getting off the plane upon his return from Fiji and then placed in police custody for a few hours before walking free. Parisian and BFMTV reveal this Thursday 28 March that he was indicted for sexual assault in November 2022 and that his request, “Tends to cancel the action”It was rejected on March 14. Therefore, he is now threatened with prosecution.

Filming was immediately cancelled

According to media professionals, one of the candidates, who was 21 years old at the time, confirmed that another candidate, who was 33 years old, tried during the night of the fourth to fifth day of filming to kiss her and pass his hand under his clothes. Then she would be instantly connected to production, thanks to the walkie-talkies available to adventurers. The latter quickly issued a decision to stop filming permanently during that time “The production conditions for this new edition are no longer calm enough.”The ALP director at the time explained. The total cost of this cancellation, depending on Parisian : Eleven million euros.

This wasn’t the first time filming for the show came to an abrupt halt. In March 2013, one of the candidates, a 25-year-old man, died of a heart attack during the first day of filming in Cambodia. A week later, the doctor responsible for monitoring the participants committed suicide, believing that he had been unjustly accused.