# Koh-Lanta

Koh-Lanta is a French reality game show based on the popular international Survivor format. The series premiered on August 4, 2001. The show is broadcast on TF1 and there have been 22 regular seasons and 7 special seasons. The show has been hosted by Denis Brogniart since the second season. The title of the show Thai "Ko Lanta" (roughly translated as "the island of a million eyes") - not only is this a reference to the televised nature of the competition (with millions of viewers watching the show) but the title is also the name of filming location of the first season (Ko Lanta Yai, Thailand).
Following the basic premise of other international versions of the Survivor format, it features a group of contestants who are marooned in an isolated location, where they must provide food, water, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out by their fellow contestants until only one remains and is declared the winner and awarded the grand prize of €100,000. Since its debut in 2001, Koh-Lanta has been a huge success in France, regularly finishing first in its timeslot.

## Format and rules

The show follows the same general format as the other editions of the show. The players are split between two "tribes", are taken to a remote isolated location and are forced to live off the land with meagre supplies for approximately 6 weeks (3 weeks in special seasons). Frequent physical and mental challenges are used to pit the teams against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for "immunity", forcing the other tribe to attend "Tribal Council", where they must vote off one of their players.
Once about half the players are remaining, the tribes are merged into a single tribe, and competitions are on an individual basis; winning immunity prevents that player from being voted out. Most players that are voted out at this stage form the "Tribal Council Jury". Once down to two people, a final Tribal Council is held where the remaining players plead their case to the jury as to why they should win the game. The jury then decides who between the two should be considered the winner and be awarded the grand prize of €100,000, with the runner-up being awarded €10,000.

### Differences in format

Unlike most versions of Survivor, dual winners are possible in some seasons where the jury vote resulted in a tie (as occurred in Koh-Lanta: Bocas del Toro, Koh-Lanta: Palawan and Koh-Lanta: The Cursed Totem). In this case both contestants are considered the winners and each receive €55,000. This differs from most editions of the show as other editions will either never have a jury with an even number of participants or have tie-breaker mechanisms in place (such as Israeli Survivor where the tie will break in favor of the winner of a public vote or in Dutch/Belgian's Expeditie Robinson where a group of former players form a "grand jury" and vote to break the tie).
Another difference in rules between Koh-Lanta and other editions is how the unexpected eliminations are handled. On Koh-Lanta, when a player is eliminated from the game outside of "Tribal Council" (either by being removed for medical reasons, or quitting prior to Raja Ampat), the player is replaced by the most recently eliminated player (or, if no such player is available, by a completely new contestant), who will take their place and the game continues as planned. In other editions, an unexpected elimination is handled by adjusting the events of the game to accommodate the absence of a player (often the upcoming Tribal Council will be cancelled but this will not always be the case).

## Seasons

List of Koh-Lanta seasons :
| No. | Season | Season premiere | Season finale | Location | Days | Initial tribes | Winner | Runner-up | Final vote |
| 1 | The Adventurers of Koh-Lanta | August 4, 2001 | September 22, 2001 | Ko Lanta Yai, Thailand | 43 | Two predetermined tribes of eight. | Gilles Nicolet | Guénaëlle Biras | 4-3 |
| 2 | Koh-Lanta: Nicoya | June 28, 2002 | September 13, 2002 | Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica | 40 | Two predetermined tribes of eight. | Amel Fatnassi | Nicolas Roy | 5-2 |
| 3 | Koh-Lanta: Bocas del Toro | June 6, 2003 | August 29, 2003 | Bocas del Toro, Panama | 40 | Two tribes of eight, picked by the oldest contestants. | Isabelle Seguin & Delphine Bano | Isabelle Seguin & Delphine Bano | 3-3 |
| 4 | Koh-Lanta: Panama | July 2, 2004 | August 31, 2004 | Pearl Islands, Panama | 40 | Two tribes of eight, divided by gender | Philippe Bordier | Linda Alario | 7-0 |
| 5 | Koh-Lanta: Pacific | July 1, 2005 | September 6, 2005 | Isle of Pines, New Caledonia | 40 | Two tribes of eight, based on age. | Clémence Castel | Francis Bordas | 7-0 |
| 6 | Koh-Lanta: Vanuatu | July 21, 2006 | September 5, 2006 | Efate, Vanuatu | 40 | Two tribes of eight, based on age. | François-David Cardonnel | Émilie Frahi | 5-3 |
| 7 | Koh-Lanta: Palawan | June 29, 2007 | September 11, 2007 | Palawan, Philippines | 40 | Two tribes of eight, picked by winners of the initial challenge. | Jade Handi & Kevin Cuoco | Jade Handi & Kevin Cuoco | 3-3 |
| 8 | Koh-Lanta: Caramoan | July 4, 2008 | September 20, 2008 | Caramoan, Philippines | 39 | Two tribes of eight, picked by winners of the initial challenge. | Christelle Gauzet | Frédéric "Fred" Favier | 6-1 |
| 9 | Koh-Lanta: Palau | August 28, 2009 | October 30, 2009 | Koror, Palau | 39 | Two tribes of eight, picked by the oldest and youngest player. Two players eliminated at the first challenge. | Christina Chevry | Patrick Merle | 5-2 |
| 10 | Koh-Lanta: Vietnam | September 17, 2010 | December 17, 2010 | Con Dao, Vietnam | 40 | Two tribes of nine, divided by gender. | Philippe Duron | Claude Dartois | 6-1 |
| 11 | Koh-Lanta: Raja Ampat | September 9, 2011 | December 16, 2011 | Raja Ampat, Indonesia | 41 | Two predetermined tribes of ten. | Gérard Urdampilleta | Teheiura Teahui | 7-2 |
| 12 | Koh-Lanta: Malaysia | November 2, 2012 | February 1, 2013 | Seribuat, Malaysia | 42 | Two tribes of eight, picked by winners of initial challenge. Four non-picked players exiled until after the next reward challenge. | Ugo Lartiche | Brice Martinet | 10-1 |
| 13 | Koh-Lanta 13 | Did Not Air | Did Not Air | Koh Rong, Cambodia | Cancelled - Production Halted | Cancelled - Production Halted | Cancelled - Production Halted | Cancelled - Production Halted | Cancelled - Production Halted | Cancelled - Production Halted |
| 14 | Koh-Lanta: Johor | April 24, 2015 | July 24, 2015 | Sibu Island, Malaysia | 40 | Two tribes of ten, picked by finder of hidden message and second player of his choice. | Marc Rambaud | Chantal Ménard | 9-2 |
| 15 | Koh-Lanta: Thailand | February 12, 2016 | May 27, 2016 | Ko Yao, Thailand | 40 | Two tribes of nine, picked by the youngest contestants. Two other players exiled until after the first Tribal Council. | Wendy Gervois | Pascal Salviani | 6-5 |
| 16 | Koh-Lanta: Island of Tresure | August 26, 2016 | December 9, 2016 | Koh Rong, Cambodia | 42 | Two tribes of ten, picked by the winner of an initial challenge and second player of his choice. | Benoît Assadi | Jesta Hillmann | 10-0 |
| 17 | Koh-Lanta: Cambodia | March 10, 2017 | June 16, 2017 | Koh Rong, Cambodia | 40 | Three predetermined tribes of six. One additional player added to each tribe on day four. | Frédéric Blancher | Clémentine Jullien | 6-2 |
| 18 | Koh-Lanta: Fiji | September 1, 2017 | December 15, 2017 | Yasawa Islands, Fiji | 41 | Two tribes of ten, based on age. | André Deleplace | Tiffany Gounin | 8-1 |
| 19 | Koh-Lanta 19 | Did Not Air | Did Not Air | Kadavu Group, Fiji | Cancelled - Production Halted | Cancelled - Production Halted | Cancelled - Production Halted | Cancelled - Production Halted | Cancelled - Production Halted | Cancelled - Production Halted |
| 20 | Koh-Lanta: Chiefs at War | 15 March 2019 | 21 June 2019 | Kadavu Group, Fiji | 39 | Three tribes of seven picked by the three new chiefs who won the pole challenge at the beginning | Maud Bamps | Cindy Poumeyrol | 7-6 |
| 21 | Koh-Lanta: The Four Lands | 28 August 2020 | 4 December 2020 | Kadavu Group, Fiji | 40 | Four tribes of six, divided by geography of player's hometown (North, South, East, West) | Alexandra Pornet | Brice Petit | 7-5 |
| 22 | Koh-Lanta: The Secret Weapons | 12 March 2021 | 4 June 2021 | Taha'a, French Polynesia | 35 | Two tribes picked by the two winning pairs of the initial challenge. One additional player later joins one tribe on day five. | Maxine Eouzan | Lucie Bertaud | 9-4 |
| 23 | Koh-Lanta: The Cursed Totem | 22 February 2022 | 21 June 2022 | El Nido, Palawan, Philippines | 39 | Three tribes randomly drawn. | Bastien San Pedro & François Descamp | Géraldine Nicolle | 4-4-3 |
| 24 | Koh-Lanta: The Sacred Fire | 21 February 2023 | 13 June 2023 | Caramoan, Philippines | 40 | Two tribes of ten randomly drawn based on where they stood on marooning. | Frédéric Khouvilay | Tania Čakarević | 7-2 |
| 25 | Koh-Lanta: The Immunity Hunters | 13 February 2024 | 4 June 2024 | Caramoan, Philippines | 38 | Two predetermined tribes of ten. One additional player for each tribe on day four after reward challenge. | Léa Sahin | Meïssa Seck | 8-3 |
| 26 | Koh-Lanta: The Cursed Tribe | 20 August 2024 | 3 December 2024 | Caramoan, Philippines | 41 | Two tribes of 10, 9 new players picked and captained by two former winners. The "Cursed Tribe" is the third tribe of four new players, who lost and opening challenge and will compete to swap places with players on the main tribes. | Thibault Bélanger | Charlotte Rasquin | 9-4 |
| 27 | Koh-Lanta: Revenge of the Four Lands | 25 February 2025 | 2025 | Caramoan, Philippines | 40 | Four tribes of six, divided by geography of player's hometown (North, South, East, West) | TBD | TBD | TBD |
List of Koh-Lanta special seasons :
| No. | Season | Season premiere | Season finale | Location | Days | Initial tribes | Winner | Runner-up | Final vote |
| 1 | Koh-Lanta: Return of the Heroes | January 13, 2009 | February 13, 2009 | Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil | 21 | Two tribes of six former players, based on a draw. Two players eliminated in initial challenge. | Romuald Lafite | Jade Handi | 5-2 |
| 2 | Koh-Lanta: Clash of the Heroes | March 26, 2010 | May 21, 2010 | Poum, New Caledonia | 20 | Two tribes of six, former players against famous sportspeople. One additional player added to each tribe on day 4. | Grégoire Delachaux | Freddy Boucher | 6-2 |
| 3 | Koh-Lanta: Revenge of the Heroes | April 8, 2012 | June 1, 2012 | Koh Rong, Cambodia | 23 | Two predetermined tribes of eight former players. | Bertrand Bolle | Claude Dartois | 9-1 |
| 4 | Koh-Lanta: The New Edition | September 12, 2014 | November 21, 2014 | Sibu Island, Malaysia | 23 | Two tribes of six former players. Tribes formed after first Tribal Council by two latecomers. | Laurent Maistret | Martin Bazin | 7-0 |
| 5 | Koh-Lanta: The Combat of Heroes | 16 March 2018 | 25 May 2018 | Yasawa Islands, Fiji | 32 | Two predetermined tribes of nine former players. | Clémence Castel | Pascal Salviani | 5-4 |
| 6 | Koh-Lanta: Island of Heroes | 21 February 2020 | 5 June 2020 | Kadavu Group, Fiji | 32 | Two tribes of seven new players. Five returning players compete in challenges to each join one of the two tribes (only four of them will join the tribes) | Naoil Tita | Inès Loucif | 7-2 |
| 7 | Koh-Lanta: The Legend | 24 August 2021 | 14 December 2021 | Taha'a, French Polynesia | 36 | Two tribes of ten former players separated by gender. One additional player added to one tribe day 2. | Claude Dartois | Laurent Maistret | 9-4 |

## Controversy
### Season 5 controversy

During the broadcast of the second episode (July 8, 2005 in France and July 10, 2005 in New Caledonia), participants had to kill and cook wedge-tailed shearwaters, a fully-protected bird species in New Caledonia. This caused that several spectators demanded explanations to the TF1 channel. TF1 responded that according to the LPO (in English, League for the Protection of Birds), wedge-tailed shearwater are not a protected species. LPO asked the CSA (broadcasting regulator in France) to take up the case, and the latter also decided to initiate legal action against TF1 and the producer of the Adventure Line Productions program.
The petition against the production company was accepted, therefore TF1 was ordered to pay the LPO €1,000 in damages and €2,000 for procedural expenses, while the TF1 channel lawsuit against the LPO was rejected.

### Season 13 cancellation

Production for the 2013 season was cancelled following the death of a contestant, Gérald Babin, during the first day of filming in Cambodia on 22 March 2013. Babin had collapsed and was initially taken to a local infirmary before being transferred by airlift to a hospital. The production company Adventure Line Productions and host Denis Brogniart denied that Babin’s treatment had been delayed because of shooting and said the production had nothing to do with his death. The program's on-site doctor, Thierry Costa, committed suicide following the controversy. Production later resumed for Koh-Lanta: The New Edition.
The death of Babin marked the second death of a contestant on any edition of Survivor worldwide. The first (and so far only other) death occurred on the 4th season of Bulgarian Survivor (titled Survivor BG: Philippines) when contestant Noncho Vodenicharov died, however unlike Koh-Lanta the production of the season continued.

### Season 19 cancellation

On 11 May 2018, TF1 and the production company Adventure Line Productions (ALP) announced the cancellation of the season following an alleged sexual assault.