Loft Story was a French reality show, and it is the first French adaptation of Big Brother franchise. The show generally considered is the first of its kind in France. Loft Story presented by Benjamin Castaldi and broadcast on M6 from 26 April 2001 to 5 July 2001 for the first season and from 11 April 2002 to 4 July 2002 for the second season.
The French title of the show is a play-on-words on loft because the contestants are "locked up" in a loft during their adventure, and Love Story.
The initial Loft Story inspired the creation of a similar show of the same name in Quebec. The famous eye logo is used by both Loft Story versions. It evokes the voyeuristic eye of the television viewer as she or he watches the Lofteurs live in front of the cameras. Some of them get gradually voted off the show by viewers on their phones and the last couple win a house.
It caused great controversy in France and the house was attacked by protesters. A limited television series following the creation of the show's first season, titled Culte, premiered in 2024 on Amazon Prime Video.
Production
Format Loft Story is a slightly re-tooled version of the original Big Brother, toned down slightly for the French market by production company Endemol.
Eleven singles cut off from the outside world and must live in a loft where all rooms (except toilets and a room imposed by the CSA) are equipped with 26 cameras (including 3 infrared cameras, mostly hidden behind one-way mirrors) and microphones. They are filmed 24 hours a day.
Broadcast The live stream is slightly delayed on one or more paid channels of the TPS offer, as well as on the Internet during the first season. A daily program is broadcast after editing this live footage.
Presentation The show was presented by Benjamin Castaldi. Two hosts co-hosted the live show from the loft: Marie Guillaumond in 2001 and Séverine Ferrer in 2002.
In 2002, during the second season, there was also a show presented by Max and broadcast on Saturday at 23:55 summarizing the events of the week and welcomed the evicted contestants.
Series overall Seasons Launch date Finale date Days Housemates Winner(s) Grand prize Average ratings Ratings share Loft Story 1 26 April 2001 5 July 2001 71 13 Loana Petrucciani and Christophe Mercy A house worth 3 million francs 4,900,000 34.6% Loft Story 2 11 April 2002 4 July 2002 85 13 Thomas Saillofest and Karine Delgado €250,000 each 4,300,000 31.8%
Season 1 Start Date: 26 April 2001 End Date: 5 July 2001 The prize: 3,000,000-franc₣ worth house (€450,000)
Nominations table All Housemates entered on Day 1 except for Fabrice and Kimy who entered on Day 7 and Day 11 respectively. Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 10 Nominationpointsreceived Females Males Christophe Noteligible Kenza,Laure Noteligible 4-Julie,3-Kimy,2-Laure,1-Loana Noteligible Nonominations Nonominations Male Winner(Day 71) 26 Loana Steevy,Aziz Noteligible 5-Jean-Édouard,4-Christophe,3-Fabrice,2-Philippe,1-Steevy Noteligible 4-Jean-Édouard,3-Christophe,2-Philippe,1-Fabrice Nonominations Nonominations Female Winner (Day 71) 10 Jean-Édouard Noteligible Kenza,Laure Noteligible 4-Laure,3-Kimy,2-Loana,1-Julie Noteligible Nonominations Nonominations Male Runner-Up(Day 71) 26 Laure Aziz,Jean-Édouard Noteligible 5-Philippe,4-Christophe,3-Jean-Édouard,2-Fabrice,1-Steevy Noteligible 4-Fabrice,3-Jean-Édouard,2-Philippe,1-Christophe Nonominations Nonominations Female Runner-Up(Day 71) 14 Fabrice Noteligible Kenza,Laure Noteligible 4-Kimy,3-Loana,2-Laure,1-Julie Noteligible Nonominations Nonominations Evicted(Day 57) 16 Kimy Exempt Noteligible 5-Christophe,4-Jean-Édouard,3-Philippe,2-Fabrice,1-Steevy Noteligible 4-Christophe,3-Philippe,2-Fabrice,1-Jean-Édouard Nonominations Evicted(Day 50) 12 Philippe Noteligible Kenza,Laure Noteligible 4-Julie,3-Loana,2-Laure,1-Kimy Noteligible Evicted(Day 43) 21 Julie Aziz,Jean-Édouard Noteligible 5-Christophe,4-Philippe,3-Jean-Édouard,2-Fabrice,1-Steevy Noteligible Evicted(Day 36) 10 Steevy Noteligible Kimy,Loana Noteligible Evicted(Day 29) 5 Kenza Aziz,Jean-Édouard Noteligible Evicted(Day 22) 4 Aziz Noteligible Evicted(Day 15) 4 Delphine Walked(Day 11) 0 David Walked(Day 6) 0 Notes none none 1 none Againstpublic vote Aziz,Jean-Édouard Kenza,Laure Fabrice,Steevy Julia,Laure,Loana Fabrice,Philippe Kimy,Laure,Loana Christophe,Fabrice,Jean-Édouard Laure,Loana Christophe,Jean-Édouard WalkedDavid,Delphine none Evicted Aziz49.6%to save Kenza46%to save Steevy47%to save Julie28.4%to save Philippe49.5%to save Kimy18%to save Fabrice28%to save Laure34%to win Jean-Édouard43%to win Loana66%to win Christophe57%to win
The contestants released a music single under the name 'Les Lofteurs'; 'Up and Down' reached number one in the French charts.
Season 2 Start Date: 11 April 2002 End Date: 4 July 2002 Prize: €250,000 + €250,000
Nominations table All Housemates entered on Day 1 except for Lauryne and Romain who entered on Day 7 and Day 14 respectively. Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 12Final NominationpointsreceivedFemalesMales Thomas 6-Karine,5-Julia,4-Sandra,3-Angela,2-Lesly,1-Lauryne Noteligible 5-Karine,4-Sandra,3-Lauryne,2-Angela,1-Lesly Noteligible 4-Karine,3-Lauryne,2-Sandra,1-Angela Noteligible 3-Karine,2-Angela,1-Sandra Noteligible Male Winner(Day 85) 40 Karine Noteligible 6-Thomas,5-Félicien,4-David,3-William2-Romain,1-Kamel Noteligible 5-Thomas,4-Félicien,3-Romain,2-David,1-Kamel Noteligible 4-Thomas,3-Romain,2-Kamel,1-David Noteligible 3-Thomas,2-Kamel,1-David Female Winner(Day 85) 61 David 6-Angela,5-Karine,4-Sandra,3-Lesly,2-Julia,1-Lauryne Noteligible 5-Angela,4-Lesly,3-Sandra,2-Karine,1-Lauryne Noteligible 4-Angela,3-Sandra,2-Karine,1-Lauryne Noteligible 3-Angela,2-Sandra,1-Karine Noteligible Male Runner-up(Day 85) 49 Angela Noteligible 6-David,5-Kamel,4-Félicien,3-Romain2-Thomas,1-William Noteligible 5-David,4-Kamel,3-Thomas,2-Félicien,1-Romain Noteligible 4-David,3-Kamel,2-Thomas,1-Romain Noteligible 3-David,2-Kamel,1-Thomas Female Runner-up(Day 85) 58 Kamel 6-Lesly,5-Sandra,4-Angela,3-Lauryne,2-Karine,1-Julia Noteligible 5-Lesly,4-Angela,3-Sandra,2-Lauryne,1-Karine Noteligible 4-Angela,3-Sandra,2-Lauryne,1-Karine Noteligible 3-Angela,2-Sandra,1-Karine Noteligible Evicted(Day 71) 48 Sandra Noteligible 6-David,5-Kamel,4-Romain,3-Félicien2-William,1-Thomas Noteligible 5-Kamel,4-David,3-Thomas,2-Romain,1-Félicien Noteligible 4-Kamel,3-David,2-Thomas,1-Romain Noteligible Evicted(Day 64) 52 Romain 6-Lauryne,5-Lesly,4-Karine,3-Sandra,2-Angela,1-Julia Noteligible 5-Karine,4-Lauryne,3-Sandra,2-Angela,1-Lesly Noteligible 4-Karine,3-Lauryne,2-Angela,1-Sandra Noteligible Evicted(Day 57) 32 Lauryne Noteligible 6-Kamel,5-David,4-Romain,3-Félicien,2-Thomas,1-William Noteligible 5-Félicien,4-Thomas,3-Romain,2-Kamel,1-David Noteligible Evicted(Day 50) 37 Félicien 6-Angela,5-Karine,4-Julia,3-Lesly,2-Sandra,1-Lauryne Noteligible 5-Karine,4-Lauryne,3-Sandra,2-Angela,1-Lesly Noteligible Evicted(Day 43) 30 Lesly Noteligible 6-Kamel,5-Romain,4-David,3-Félicien,2-Thomas,1-William Noteligible Evicted(Day 36) 32 William 6-Julia,5-Karine,4-Sandra,3-Angela,2-Lauryne,1-Lesly Noteligible Evicted(Day 29) 8 Julia Noteligible Evicted(Day 22) 19 Marlene Walked(Day 7) 0 Againstpublic vote Julia,Lauryne Thomas,William Angela,Lesly David,Kamel,Félicien,Romain Angela,Karine,Lauryne,Sandra Romain,Thomas Karine,Sandra David,Kamel,Thomas Angela,Karine David,Thomas Walked Marlene none Evicted Julia42%to save William17%to save Lesly30%to save Félicien24%to save Lauryne21%to save Romain42%to save SandraFewest votesto save KamelFewest votesto save Angela49.58%to win David48.71%to win Karine50.42%to win Thomas51.29%to win
Criticism
Loft Story became a craze when it was screened, but as it went on, it became extremely criticized, mocked and belittled by the media: the premise of ordinary young people being filmed most of the time in a cozy loft (and letting themselves out, they got a reputation of being stupid), being voted off by people on phones and getting to win money at the end, got it called high-rated "garbage tv".
Loft Story is considered to be the precursor of reality shows in France where the contestants get voted off by viewers.
Like other Big Brother-style programs, the show's sexual content was criticized as several contestants were seen having intercourse on camera.
See also Culture of France List of French television series List of French adaptations of television series from other countries Reality television
References
External links Official website of Loft Story