The cathedral of Old Nice was full on Friday, with Steevy Boulay in the front row, to say goodbye to Loana, the first reality TV star in France, who died at the age of 48 after a chaotic journey which marked an entire generation.
Alongside the former “lofteur”, a small summary of the pioneering reality TV show, 25 years ago, which propelled Loana to fame: the producer Alexia Laroche-Joubert, the presenter Benjamin Castaldi or the couple Julie and Christophe Mercy, the other winner of season 1 of this controversial show which has become cult.
The pink coffin adorned with a silver heart was carried by funeral home employees wearing pink ties and white flowers in their buttonholes.
“I ask Marie to take care of my child. We never cut the umbilical cord. I will find you again, my crumb, you will remain my crumb,” begins Violette Petrucciani, his mother.
Faced with the disappearance of Loana, “it is above all silence that is required”, continues Father Frédéric Sanges, parish priest, recalling “her great passion” for animals: “she had even managed to raise a pigeon”.
In the photo in front of the entrance to the Sainte-Réparate cathedral, Loana greets with a smile in a light pink bare top. It was in 2001, she walked down the Champs-Elysées like a star after having spent ten weeks filmed 24 hours a day by M6 cameras and winning this first edition of “Loft Story”. And in front of the altar, a more sober portrait, chic black jacket and long earrings.
It is therefore these images that those close to her wanted the public, who came in large numbers unlike the world of television, to remember while Loana’s last years were marked by precariousness, violence and addictions. On March 25, his body was discovered in his small apartment near Nice train station, next to that of his dog.
For Josiane Higuero, a 65-year-old retiree, she was “a good girl, a simple girl, who gave everything. She was close to people, she earned money but she distributed it and no one was around her afterwards.”
“It’s my generation, I followed the “Loft” and its entire journey. Her passing is sad but it was obvious, seeing how she was wasting away. We should have supported him better,” confides Sylvie, 56 years old.
The religious ceremony, closed to the cameras, was sober, between religious readings and organ interpretation of the “blue dream” from the Disney cartoon “Aladdin”.
Laurent Amar, friend of Loana, was also present, as was the model Jérémy Bellet, as well as Eryl Prayer, who arrived in tears.
“She would have loved it”
“Thank you for coming, she would have loved it,” Steevy told fans before confiding his “immeasurable pain” because Loana “left too quickly” after “a life of extraordinary highs and heartbreaking lows.”
“The floral theme with white and pink”, Juliette Meurillon, 38-year-old credit analyst, found “it very angelic and very beautiful”. “There you go, may she rest in peace.”
After applauding the coffin for a long time as it left the church, the public accompanied the departure of the hearse with cries of “Goodbye Loana, we love you!”
Loana Petrucciani (her full name) was then to be cremated privately.
France discovered her in the spring of 2001 when she lived with other anonymous people in the “Loft”. She was 21 years old and quickly stood out for her blondeness, her antics in the pool but also her obvious vulnerability.
Afterwards, Loana tried different career paths: model for Jean-Paul Gaultier, stylist for a clothing line bearing her name, TV presenter on cable channels… But the fairy tale quickly turned into a nightmare.
Already fragile – victim of an incestuous father and forced at 19 to entrust her daughter Mindy to social services – Loana had experienced a long personal decline, between suffered violence, health problems, suicide attempts, overdoses and psychiatric episodes.
When firefighters discovered his body, he had died several days ago. The hypothesis of a fall backwards was considered but the autopsy was unable to determine the causes of death with certainty. Analyzes to detect the presence of toxic products or possible pathologies are still underway.
“She embodied a raw innocence in a world that forgives nothing,” Benjamin Castaldi commented on the announcement of her death on Instagram.
