The adventure stops at the gates of the post test for Ambre. During an interview, the Montpellier candidate looks back on her adventure in Koh Lanta, the cursed totem.
Ambre is one of the rare candidates to have integrated three different teams in the 2022 season of Koh Lanta. This sports training manager from Montpellier joined the purple team and then the green team three days before the creation of the red and yellow teams. Among the Reds, she also joined François, with whom she lived almost all of her adventure. Sometimes criticized for her votes experienced as strategic on the boards, Ambre denies it and explains to us that her guideline has always been to vote with the heart. Eliminated during episode 16 after two orienteering races, Amber also tells us how she did, according to her, the perfect adventure to such an extent that she does not feel the need to participate in the show again.
Why did you choose to participate in Koh Lanta?
That’s a very good question ! I think I ask myself that too. When I was little, I didn’t have TV and I watched Koh Lanta for the first time with my partner during confinement, so it’s fresh. In fact, it happened at a time in my life when I was available and when I was very excited to see where my limits were. It’s a story of stars aligned, it was in the right place at the right time. I was lucky that it worked.
In what state of mind did you arrive when you saw your opponents?
I said to myself “Wow, poor thing. Maybe you should have looked a little earlier!” When I saw the mountains there, I said to myself “no but there, you’re in the couscoussier! Guys, they’re war machines. Maybe you should have a little you train.” My first reaction was to say to myself “ah yeah, OK. This is serious.”
What was the hardest part for you in the adventure?
The hardest part was the weather. Not sleeping because of the rain… The cabin was not waterproof… Being soaked all the time… It was hard for me.
What is your fondest memory of your career?
Above all, I will keep the fact that I have met extraordinary people and that I have not deviated from my common thread, namely to vote with the heart, despite what may be said or shown. I have always made choices by affinities. Who says affinities necessarily implies strategy because we save some at the expense of others. It has been my common thread throughout my adventure.
Since reunification, we often hear about ex-Reds, ex-Yellows, ex-Greens. Has the reunited tribe really been white this season?
It’s true that from the start, we tried to keep the numerical ascendancy because the Reds arrived in force in terms of numbers. Afterwards, casually, we must not forget that I spent a lot of time with the Violets, more than with the Greens for that matter. A Jean-Charles or a Bastien was equivalent to a Rouge for me. Within the Reds, there was no old color either, the proof I choose two old Blues to the detriment of an old Green. I think it’s not shown enough but during the votes we try to vote to keep the people with whom we have spent the most time. Otherwise, we are still all very white.
The ex-Greens weren’t that strategic?
What really happened to me was that I had blind faith in François. If we had to talk about an alliance, I would rather talk about a southern alliance than a green alliance knowing that I only spent three days with the Greens. This green alliance was really put forward by Louana because unfortunately she was one of the people who had very few allies on the camp. We voted against Maxime because he was the one with whom we had the least..
Louana and Maxime talk about the betrayal of the former Greens. You say that there was no specific green axis to go to the poles.
No, otherwise we wouldn’t have eliminated Louana. Afterwards, it’s always easier to talk about betrayal than to question yourself, I think. We incriminated Maxime a lot during this elimination but we must not forget that Bastien openly told the board that he wants to eliminate Louana and not Maxime. So he put the name of Maxime so that it has a certain value but in reality he eliminates Louana. It is not shown too much but we arrive at a stage of the adventure where we only vote with the heart. When there are chains of affinity and you find yourself at the bottom of the chain, it simply becomes complicated for you.
Did you expect to go this far, you who didn’t know the show that much?
I had no goal, frankly. I was paralyzed at the idea of being eliminated first. Coming out of the boat, I saw the beach so far away that I told myself that I would never get there. I didn’t set myself any goals and I didn’t go to Koh Lanta to look for something. Each passing day was already enough for me. I tried not to project myself so as not to be disappointed and it worked. But I didn’t really see myself getting that far, it’s huge. That’s crazy.
Orienteering which is hard on the nerves. How did you experience it?
It was very difficult for me. Beyond the heat, the difficulty, the time we spend scratching in the bush, we are directly in competition with our friends. That’s horrible, thinking it’s either them or me. It’s a notion that I hadn’t measured and which is super hard. When I find myself at orientation facing a Géraldine, a François or a Bastien… it’s horrible. I would have preferred to be in front of people I didn’t like at all. It would have been less complicated to manage emotionally.
You say in particular that you will try to play the game fairly, unlike some other seasons. Why this choice ?
I think that, despite everything that we can see through the episodes or the networks, it is the simple reflection of our season. Our friendships with each other were honest and sincere. We certainly each had a little ambition but I assume that we are not at all obliged to crush the others to shine. The rule is the rule. I would have much better lived a defeat by having followed the rule to the letter rather than a victory by having cheated. It loses all its meaning. I had tried to keep this guiding line throughout the adventure, it was not to change my course in the last hours of the game.
You are opposed to Bastien in a last chance test. You shared your adventure with him for a long time. How did you handle this situation?
It was super tough. Frankly, it was torture. In addition, at the level of symbolism, it is horrible. Bastien and I are pairs with linked destinies, we win together, we spend a lot of time together and there we find ourselves adversaries. We are really glued to each other in this event. There are times when our shoulders touch when we search the ground. We look at each other and say “damn, it’s the plague or cholera!” I tell myself that someone has to find him quickly. When he “Amber, I’ve got it”, it’s a relief because I couldn’t take it anymore. It would have been different if I had searched alone in my area. But being with someone else is really up to whoever gets their hands on it first. It’s horrible.
You are eliminated at the gates of the pole test. Is it still a pride or is it difficult to live all the same?
I always see the glass as half full, rather than half empty. Suddenly, it is a patient’s pride. I can’t believe I’ve come this far and done everything I’ve done. Frankly, besides, I don’t feel like I stole it. I’m super proud of myself. Inevitably, I’m super disappointed because it stops at the foot of the posts, especially since this season there were four out of five chances. But in the end, I find myself in my place on this orientation because I am the only one who has not found a beacon. I feel in my place and eliminated at the right time. Apart from the last tip, no one put my name on paper, no one extinguished my torch. If I’m here, it’s thanks to me and me alone. I’m more relieved that it ends in a good way rather than the adventure stopping before the posts.
How did you experience the reactions of Internet users during the broadcast of the season?
At the beginning, with the first messages we receive, we often say to ourselves “Wow! How is it possible that someone I don’t know can think that about me and that in addition he can write it on the internet? ?” Me, it’s something that wouldn’t have crossed my mind that I discovered this aspect there. I knew there were twisted people but by doing Koh Lanta, I discover that there are a lot of them. I try to separate things. I have a little feeling of injustice from time to time when people criticize certain things that I do and do not see the other things that I do. That’s a bit complicated when people speak without knowing. Otherwise, I have so much positive and caring feedback live in the street when people come to see me with stars in their eyes, children who say “Oh no, but it’s Amber!” It’s so huge that it erases all the little negative sides that we can have on the networks.
Do you have any regrets about your adventure?
None. It may be a little pretentious on my part but I have no regrets. If I had to redo all the choices I made, I would do exactly the same. I don’t regret anything except not having found the dagger. Otherwise, I am very happy with my adventure. I’m extremely lucky to have made it this far and it’s a consequence of the choices I made so I don’t regret anything.
In your opinion, who is the candidate who has the best chances on the posts this year?
I don’t have too much of an opinion on that because I think all four have their chances. What I find beautiful in this final painting is that it is a good reflection of our adventure: there is Purple, Green, Yellow, Red, Blue… I think that sums up the adventure that we lived on the camp. I think that if the colors are so well represented on the posts, it’s not for nothing. It is that humanly we lived a beautiful adventure. The final painting is the simple result.
How do you view your adventure?
It was an extraordinary adventure. The word takes on its full meaning when I talk about Koh Lanta. It was humanly crazy. I didn’t think the human body was capable of taking so much. It was a magnificent experience, I absolutely do not regret having done it. I’m proud of the person I was on camp. When I have the return of my relatives who tell me that I am exactly the same on TV as in life, it reassures me. It allows me to realize that even in adversity, I remain myself. I only retain positive from Koh Lanta.
Would you like to participate in Koh Lanta again if you had the opportunity?
Never, ever, ever! (laughs) Never! Who goes back to jail? Who goes back with their ex? Nobody ! Why would I go back to Koh Lanta? It’s not okay, right?! (laughs) Frankly, I didn’t go to Koh Lanta to look for things. So I have no regrets. I think there are some people who have sporting prowess to do, who want to prove things to themselves in sport. Me, I went there without too much expectation so I was surprised only in a good way. I think I have covered the question. I would be afraid in redoing an adventure that it would be different. This is the one that was beautiful and I want to continue to think that it can stay like that, authentic and natural. I checked all the boxes for my Koh Lanta.