They had no money left in their kitty and were fighting for honor. In the end, Fanny and Jérémy did not manage to pass the gates of victory for Pékin Express in first position, landing less than five minutes following Lucas and Nicolas. But it doesn’t matter for the dreamy couple who claim that if they had arrived before the Belgian brothers, they would have allowed them to validate their kitty of 100,000 euros. “We don’t really like money because it can drive you crazy”, confide the lovers to 20 Minutes.
At the start of the final sprint, you play for honor. Jeremy, you say on screen that you really like it. Why ?
Jeremy : We never applied thinking that we were going there for the money. It was a bonus.
Fanny : Afterwards, it doesn’t mean that we don’t need the money, but we didn’t make this game for that.
Jeremy : We were so moved during this adventure with the families, the race, the meeting of the pairs…
Fanny : I did things that I would never have done in real life. And for that alone, it’s a victory for us. It’s not worse. If we had had a big potential win, we would have been even more stressed. The day before the final, we were too stressed. Fighting for honor is the best thing to live for.
It took the stress off you so…
Jeremy : We don’t really like money because it can drive you crazy. I don’t know, it’s a bit unhealthy… For us, the amulets did not represent money but the fact of continuing. In an adventure so human and so rich in emotions, one had the impression that money had no place. We experienced this final in the best of conditions.
Unfortunately, you arrive shortly following the Belgian brothers…
Fanny : We arrive regarding three minutes following them, it is the tightest final of Pékin Express. For this reason, it is as if we had won, we are not an hour and a half late. They arrived before us, they were better, good for them. Anyway, we wanted to do something since they had 100,000 euros around their necks and we had zero. We wanted to arrive first in front of this flag but not cross it and let them win. We wanted to be first for the image but they would have won because they had 100,000 euros to achieve. We would have really struggled to look in the mirror if we had had the opportunity to arrive before them and had stolen the victory from them.
Did the disappointment of the defeat pass following the shooting?
Fanny : I tell myself that we mightn’t do a better final and I wouldn’t change anything regarding what happened. Lucas and Nicolas won their money, so much the better for them, and we arrived three minutes behind, we deserve all the credit for this little gap. Basically, I wouldn’t have wanted to win, I would have had a hard time. Even with the reverse of the gains, I would have been embarrassed to make money. It’s weird to say but that’s not why we made this game…
Did you consider it a quirky pair?
Jeremy : We have our universe, our way of thinking which is “first the others and following us”. We do not have the spirit of competition, we have never been confronted with it. We have always lived our lives in our corner, quiet, in our bubble. We let ourselves be carried away by our feelings.
Fanny : Afterwards, we have never done dirt to any pair. In episode 9, we’re a little tough on the brothers because they were tough on us and they’ve since apologized. There were small tensions but we didn’t hurt anyone, we have values and we respected ourselves.
Three weeks ago, Charlotte and Sarah confided that you were in the minority, them and you. Do you also consider that strategy had a big part in this adventure?
Fanny : It’s true that we’re not too strategic. We respected our values in all cases. When we realized that there was a lot of strategy in front, we felt a little lost. We came to have a human adventure and when, opposite, we are anti-women in the final, the human side that we wanted to live is missing. It disturbed us a bit. But everyone plays their game as they want, there is no problem. It just surprised and a little disappointed us during the adventure.
Jeremy : In the end, everyone was lovely to us. But when the fifth stage ends, Arlette and Caroline leave and the tension started suddenly, we don’t know why. It’s like that, we are among human beings with our faults and our qualities in a game in which we are not ready to be shaken up in all directions. Inevitably, there are things that stand out. But today, right now, in our room, trying to digest this adventure because this broadcast is quite hard to live with, we love everyone.
Why do you say that broadcasting is quite hard to live with?
Fanny : What is difficult to live with is that we do not control our own image. In episode 9, we are seen almost mean to the brothers. These may be things we said to the camera but the editing shows a bit of violence on my part and it’s terrible because I don’t recognize myself, I was shocked. So it’s hard to manage.
Has your life changed since Pékin Express ?
Fanny : It has not changed our relationship. We’re a little more tired than before because between the game from which we came home exhausted, and the broadcast where we don’t sleep very well, we’re exhausted! We need to rest, to refocus on our daughters.
Jeremy : In a few weeks, it will be digested. We already feel a little grown from this show, we are different anyway. She changed us a little humanly. We are perhaps even nicer to everyone (laughs).
