Romuald Lafite is the Sole Survivor of Koh-Lanta: Le Retour des Héros. He originally competed on Koh-Lanta: Panama.
Profile[]
Profile retrieved from tf1.fr[1]
- Age: 30 ans
- Profession: Préparateur Sportif
- Ville: Calvados
- Equipe: Tupan
Koh-Lanta[]
Panama[]
In Panama, Romuald was one of the two scouts of the all-male Mogo tribe assigned to travel to camp by helicopter and get a head start on setting up their tribe for camp life, the other being Raphaël Andrès. Though the two seemed to get along, Raphaël noticed that Romuald was being lazy and didn't like that. When the whole tribe reunited at Mogo beach, Romuald formed a friendship and alliance with the other young men of the tribe, Guillaume Brauer and Alban Mbossoro. The trio didn't care for the leadership styles of some of the older men, particularly Nelson Parente. When the Mogo tribe lost the first Immunity Challenge, older tribe member Jean-Bernard de Cools gave the middle finger to the Chapera tribe and threw his belt at them. Because Jean-Bernard was sanctioned for these actions by losing his right to vote at the first elimination and being exiled for 48 hours, he was unable to cast a crucial vote against Romuald that would have caused the vote to result in a tie. Instead, Vidéli Dittmar, who also didn't care for Nelson's leadership style, joined the three youngest men in what was now a majority vote against Nelson, resulting in the latter's elimination.
On Day 8, the Mogo tribe sent Alban and their two scouts, Raphaël and Romuald, to what they thought was going to be a challenge for reward, but it turned out to be a tribe switch. As a result, they were reassigned to the Chapera tribe and their representatives, Linda Alario, SL, and Catherine Ehret-Mader were reassigned to the Mogo tribe. On their end, the Chapera women were happy to have men on their tribe and the tribe got along very well, but Nathalie Lapicque was annoyed because Raphaël had taken over her leadership role in the tribe and became negative. After they eliminated Vicky Lemarié on Day 13 due to her depleted morale, some of the Chapera tribe members, such as Raphaël, pondered over whether Nathalie was being so negative on purpose to influence her tribemates into wanting to go home. Nathalie finally managed to bond better with her tribemates during the sixth cycle, but it was still too late for her to salvage her game because she was eliminated during the corresponding elimination as her tribemates were still annoyed with her.
Before the merge, Philippe Bordier and Romuald represented their respective tribes as Ambassadors after competing in a Hero Challenge that Philippe won for reward. Philippe quickly offered Guillaume's name as the Ambassadors' vote for the first merge elimination, to which Romuald agreed in spite of his prior alliance with Guillaume. Further proving his allegiance to the second Chapera tribe members, he joined the majority of them and Catherine in voting out Guillaume at the merged tribe's first elimination. Over the next few days, many of the contestants became ill, with Odile being one of the more serious cases. Many of the second Chapera tribe members blamed their sickness on eating the moray eel that Raphaël had caught earlier, but the minority alliance of Linda, Philippe, and Sophie used this to their advantage and convinced Raphaël that his allies were being ungrateful of him. Romuald won immunity and, despite feeling that his allies were being ungrateful, Raphaël didn't budge from his alliance that now included Catherine as an affiliate and Linda was voted out next. When Odile was evacuated and eliminated from the game on Day 26 due to persisting illness, Linda returned to the game in her place with immunity at the upcoming elimination. Sophie was the next intended target of Catherine and the majority alliance because of her injured finger and because Linda was immune, but she and Linda argued to the majority alliance that Catherine did not actually deserve to go any further because of her consistent weakness in challenges. With this, the majority alliance realized that tensions between Linda, Sophie, and Catherine would end right away and the camp would be peaceful if Catherine were eliminated next, so all of Catherine's tribemates, except for Alban, voted out Catherine at the next elimination.
At the final six, Alban won the Reward Challenge and, when told that he could share the reward with one of his tribemates, he chose his closest ally Romuald. When the pair came back to camp, the rest of the tribe criticized Alban for his decision because Romuald had benefited from more rewards than the rest of the tribe and because Romuald was lazy around camp. Though Romuald won the next Immunity Challenge, Alban's decision at the Reward Challenge was what broke the camel's back in terms of Raphaël staying loyal to his alliance. Therefore, to the relief of Linda and Philippe, Raphaël and Amélie Grégoire, who had developed a father-daughter relationship by this point, flipped and Alban was voted out. Romuald was next in line for elimination, but he won immunity yet again. As a result, Linda and Amélie were now on the block and Romuald was the swing vote. Though he initially told Linda that he'd vote against her at elimination, he ultimately cast his vote against Amélie because he realized that Linda would be easier to beat in the long run.
Though Romuald lost the Orientation challenge at the final four, he was not automatically eliminated as was the case in previous seasons. Instead, he received an extra vote at the upcoming elimination and this left Linda and Philippe in full power. With the rest of the tribe agreeing that Raphaël actually deserved to make it further than Romuald, Romuald was unanimously voted off anyway.
At the Final Tribal Council, Romuald voted for Philippe, who won in a unanimous 7-0 vote.
Voting History[]
| Episode | Romuald's Votes |
Voted Against Romuald |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nelson | Nelson, Raphaël, Philippe |
| 2 | Mogo Tribe Immune | |
| 3 | Chapera Tribe Immune | |
| 4 | Vicky | Vicky |
| 5 | Chapera Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Nathalie | - |
| 7 | Guillaume | - |
| 8 | Linda | Individual Immunity |
| 9 | Catherine | - |
| 10 | Sophie | - |
| 11 | Linda | Individual Immunity |
| 12 | Amélie | Individual Immunity |
| 13 | Raphaël | Linda, Philippe, Raphaël, Penalty1 |
| Voted Out, Day 38 | ||
| Voted for Sole Survivor |
Philippe | |
^1 In Episode 13, Romuald received a penalty vote for coming in last place during the Orienteering challenge.
Le Retour des Héros[]
For the first portion of the opening sudden death challenge, Romuald was paired up with Amel Fatnassi. Along with Christelle Gauzet and Jean-Bernard Hauton-Arnaud, Amel and Romuald were among the bottom two pairs, so the four had to compete in a footrace in which the last man and woman to finish would be eliminated from the game. Romuald won against Jean-Bernard, so Jean-Bernard was eliminated and Romuald was assigned to the Tupan tribe. Romuald was able to prove that he had matured since his last appearance on Koh-Lanta and he bonded well with his tribemates. When the Tupan tribe lost the first Immunity Challenge, which was also the first Reward Challenge, Denis Brogniart informed the Tupan tribe that they would have the opportunity to send two people, who ended up being Jade Handi and Romuald, to retrieve fire for their tribe from a muddy lake later that night. Also, right after the tribe's defeat, Filomène Mendonca called out Catherine Ehret-Mader as the weakest link of the challenge. Though they thought that Filomène was being too harsh on Catherine, the tribe's men ultimately agreed with her about Catherine back at camp. Conversely, Catherine and Jade believed that Jean-Luc Fiorina was the weakest link of the challenge and, eventually, Filomène changed her mind and agreed with them. Therefore, it was evident that the tribe's allegiances would be split along gender lines going into Tribal Council, with the men planning on voting against Catherine and the women planning on voting against Jean-Luc. However, not appreciating Filomène's sharp tongue, Jean-Luc and Tony Sanchez voted against her instead of Catherine at Tribal Council. Because Romuald was not aware of this new plan, Jean-Luc was ultimately voted out in a 3-2-1 vote.
When the Tupan tribe won the second Reward Challenge on Day 4, they were rewarded with the right to integrate either Amel or Jean-Bernard as a new member of the tribe. The Tupan tribe chose Jean-Bernard, bringing the tribe's numbers back up to six. With three of each gender on the new Tupan tribe, allegiances still seemed to be split along gender lines with Catherine, Jean-Bernard, and Tony being the tribe members most in danger of being voted out. However, this would not matter as the Tupan tribe won the rest of the tribal Immunity Challenges.
Before the tribes merged, Denis Brogniart informed both tribes separately that it was time for them to appoint Ambassadors. He also informed them that the power of the Ambassadors has increased: instead of casting a vote against someone, the Ambassadors have to eliminate someone. Furthermore, if the Ambassadors do not reach a consensus, they would have to opt for a rock draw in which one of them would be eliminated instead. Feeling indebted to her tribe for being the weakest link in challenges, Catherine volunteered to become the Ambassador for the Tupan tribe. At the Ambassadors' Meeting, Catherine met with fellow Panama contestant Philippe Bordier, who became the Ambassador for the Jacaré tribe after drawing the short straw in a straw draw for the position. Philippe and Catherine failed to convince one another to turn on one of their respective allies and, after the consequential rock draw, Philippe was eliminated from the game.
When the tribes merged, the second Tupan tribe members made plans to vote out François-David Cardonnel at the merged tribe's first Tribal Council. However, François-David won the first Immunity Challenge, which prompted the second Tupan tribe members to switch their target to Émilie Frahi in order to potentially throw François-David off of his game in the next cycle. After the challenge, Catherine became faint and had to be temporarily evacuated from the game. As the corresponding Tribal Council approached, the second Tupan tribe members at camp realized that they should target Clémence Castel instead of Émilie because Clémence had already won the game, unlike Émilie, and because Clémence was stronger than Émilie in challenges. Therefore, the second Tupan tribe members, with the exception of Catherine, who was at the infirmary, changed their plans and voted out Clémence instead. At the Final Eight, Tony told François-David that he felt that a man should win the season. Subsequently, within hours, the tribe seemed to be in a subtle battle of the sexes and, the next day, Catherine told Émilie that the women should vote out Jean-Bernard at the next Tribal Council because, of the remaining men, he joined the Tupan tribe later than its other members. Émilie informed François-David about this new idea, realizing that he and the women could pagong the other men over the next few cycles and, in turn, allow the two of them to make it deeper into the game. However, after François-David won the second individual Immunity Challenge, Denis Brogniart revealed to the tribe that, like once earlier in the season, Tribal Council would be taking place right there and then. With no opportunity to confirm the other plan, François-David and Émilie voted against Tony and the second Tupan tribe members voted out Émilie. At the Final Seven, Tony won the individual Immunity Challenge, but later forfeited the immunity totem because he felt like he didn't properly earn this victory because he asked Jade to throw it for him. In spite of this and the tribe being annoyed by Tony's antics at camp, the second Tupan tribe members eliminated the last of the original Jacaré members, François-David, with the exception of Jade who chose not to vote against François-David as a show of respect.
At the Final Six, Romuald placed first in the first round of the third individual Reward Challenge, Buggin' Out, and advanced to the second round. For the second round, Romuald chose Catherine to be Jade's partner and Jade chose Tony to be Romuald's partner. Romuald and Tony won this round and, in turn, the individual Reward Challenge, of which the reward was an overnight visit to a local family's home. The next day, Jade won the fourth individual Immunity Challenge. At the corresponding Tribal Council, Romuald voted against Catherine for her weakened physical state. However, the women were unified in their votes, unlike the men, and they voted against Tony for his annoying behaviour and for his idea of an all-male alliance, eliminating him in a 3-1-1-1 vote. Going into the Final Five, Romuald, who shared Jade's hunger and passion to win competitions both inside and outside of the game, began to replace Catherine as the affiliate to Jade and Filomène's alliance. Romuald's loved one for the fourth individual Reward Challenge, Choose Your Weapon, was his girlfriend Sabrina. Romuald broke Jean-Bernard's arrow after winning the first round and, in turn, Catherine broke Romuald's arrow after winning the second round. When Romuald went to sit next to Jean-Bernard, the latter vented to the former that the contestants with significant others as their loved ones, Jade, Romuald, and himself, should have stuck together in the challenge. Overhearing this, Catherine and Filomène were annoyed and Catherine responded to Jean-Bernard that no loved one had priority over another. Ultimately, Filomène won the challenge. The next day, Jean-Bernard, who was in danger of being eliminated next, won the fifth individual Immunity Challenge. At the corresponding Tribal Council, Catherine was voted out unanimously as Romuald succeeded in solidifying his affiliation to Jade and Filomène better than Catherine did hers.
Having made it to the finale, Romuald was taken by Jade to the Final Two instead of Filomène after Jade won the Perch challenge. Filomène was taken aback by this decision, which Jade explained that she made because she felt that Romuald would be easier to beat at the Final Tribal Council. However, Filomène felt too hurt by Jade to remain her friend and voted for Romuald at the Final Tribal Council out of bitterness towards Jade. Ironically, Romuald won against Jade in a 5-2 vote as the former had built stronger bonds with most of the jury than the latter had.
Voting History[]
| Episode | Romuald's Votes |
Voted Against Romuald |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catherine | - |
| 2 | Tupan Tribe Immune | |
| 3 | Tupan Tribe Immune | |
| 4 | Clémence | François-David |
| 5 | Émilie | - |
| 6 | François-David | - |
| 7 | Catherine | - |
| 8 | Catherine | Catherine |
| 9 | Ineligible | - |
| Jury Votes for Romuald |
Clémence, Émilie, Filomène, François-David, Jean-Bernard | |
| Sole Survivor, Day 21 | ||
Post-Koh-Lanta[]
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Trivia[]
- Romuald is the only contestant on Koh-Lanta to be voted out in 4th.
- Romuald is the first contestant to win a season of Koh-Lanta as a returning player
References[]
| Koh-Lanta: Panama Castaways | |||||||||||||||
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