The Koh Lanta saga, from the English failure to the French success story

"Necklace of immunity", "test of the posts", or even "vote of the council" ... After almost 20 years of distribution, the vocabulary of 

has entered the daily life of the French.

But all this could never have existed… In 

, journalist Dora Nanaa retraces the success story of the adventure program launched in 2001 by TF1, with the general manager of the channel Gilles Pélisson and Denis Brogniart, who hosts 

 since the second season.

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A flop in England

Friday evening is the final of the 21st season of 

.

However, TF1's mythical adventure show almost never saw the light of day in France.

If its success is not denied today, this is not the case of its British mother show, 

, created by producer Charlie Parsons in 1992. The first season in England is a flop.

And the sentence is irrevocable: the show is deprogrammed. 

Its creator does not give in to this affront and believes in the success of his show.

Is right.

"Charlie Parsons' great success is that he sells the project in the United States. And very quickly, long before the 

 existed in France, it became a real success there", explains Denis Brogniart on Europe 1. "And it continues to last. I think they are practically in the 40th season," he adds. 

In France, success also comes quickly and the audience is growing season after season.

At least at the beginning, before experiencing a little erosion.

But the show has learned to renew itself to last.

"We went to three teams, then we introduced a fourth team," recalls Gilles Pélisson.

"So indeed, we are renewing the genre a bit."

New features that have allowed 

 to overcome the difficulties, such as the winners of the pole test: the game could have stopped in 2013, after the death of one of the candidates and the suicide of the doctor of the team.

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The strength of a program where we project ourselves

In France, 

now has 21 seasons, and the 22nd will soon be filming.

For its presenter, one of the reasons for this success is the possibility of identifying the program: viewers find themselves in the adventurers of the end of the world.

"We look at 

 and we say to ourselves: 'Him, I like him, him, I like him less. He impresses me, he looks like me. He looks like my son", illustrates Denis Brogniart.

According to him, viewers can easily see themselves in the show.

"You can be eating pizza or sushi with your children, with your parents, with your grandparents and share this adventure through television," he explains.

"These are people who come from all over France, from all socio-cultural backgrounds, from all socio-professional backgrounds. You are one of them and you say to yourself 'What would I do in their place?'. is what makes this program so strong. And, I believe, also its longevity. "

This force of Koh Lanta particularly played during the first confinement, where the French dreamed of the great spaces offered to adventurers.

They then acclaimed the show, which completed its transformation into a social phenomenon.

And this success continues.

Last Friday, 

 again gathered 6.3 million viewers, and more than 40% of women under 50 present in front of their screen that evening.

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An invitation to travel

What viewers also appreciate about the program is the beauty of distant filming locations.

Especially when you are locked in at home. 

then becomes a travel agency by proxy.

"We went to Fiji for several seasons. Almost nobody among the French has ever gone to Fiji, maybe that gives you desires", hopes Denis Brogniart.

"We went to New Caledonia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Panama, Costa Rica, Micronesia, Vanuatu and I forget that. People travel with us."

Next year, TF1 will continue to make the French dream, this time with a destination that is nevertheless very much from home.

"The fact of being able to go to France, Polynesia, on the small island of Tara, it will also be for many of our fellow citizens, I think, the happiness of finding Koh-Lanta in French places", believes Gilles Pélisson, evoking the next season.

We just hope that the immunity tests in 2021 don't become even more complex than they already are.