On February 10, 2022, M6 kicked off Beijing Express 2022. Eight new pairs have embarked on this crazy and beautiful adventure that began in Kyrgyzstan, in Central Asia. And very fortunately for the production, there seems to be no accident to deplore this year. This has not been the case for two years.
In 2012, the production company had to deal with an accident in which Stéphane Rotenberg was involved. It happened during the special edition Beijing Express: The Mystery Passengere (won by Belgian brothers Ludovic and Samuel). While, like the participants, he was in the Philippines, the 54-year-old presenter lost control of the vehicle he was driving, namely a sidecar. He thus has hit a car and the images were filmed by M6 cameras (to be found in the slideshow).
Thus, the viewers have discovered the shocking images of Stéphane Rotenberg, his head in blood. After this incident, the filming was of course stopped so that the facilitator sees a doctor urgently. Fortunately, more fear than harm. “When I saw Stéphane arriving, I was very scared. He was immediately taken care of by our doctor and the emergency service. A few stitches later, everything is back to normal“, had entrusted the producer Thierry Guillaume to TV Magazine.
Once back on his feet, Stéphane Rotenberg was able to resume filming as if nothing had happened. Or almost because he kept a cap to hide his bandages. The presenter confided in the accident to our colleagues from Entertainment TV, a few days after his big fright. “It’s a trivial road accident, without major consequences. I was lucky to be treated very well by the race doctor, who was wonderful. He is an emergency doctor at the start, he knows how to manage that. He arrived and he knew what he had to do. The race resumed in the hour following the glitch (…) I’m still walking limping (…) It’s really an adventure“, he had reassured.
Near TV 7 Dayshe had explained that in the past, he was an automobile journalist and that he “had a few crashes“.”It embarrasses me more than anything. What surprised me was the reaction of people. I received lots of text messages and phone calls from people who were worried. But let everyone be reassured, these are just sores…“, he had concluded.
On October 1, 2020, the production of Beijing Express had another scare that was far more serious. A road accident occurred during the filming of the 2021 edition, in Turkey. An 82-year-old driver lost control of his vehicle and hit two team cars, including that of Aurore and her husband Jonathan. The motorist died and involved crew members were injured and rushed to hospital. “After the impact, my first instinct was to turn towards Aurore. And indeed, I see a gaping wound that goes from the arch to the scalp. I am worried but I keep a certain composure. My first reaction is to get out of the vehicle because we could be in danger as we are still on the road. Then I lay Aurore down because if she bleeds, that’s what to do. I see that at any time she can leave so I put her in PLS (lateral safety position) and I protect her wound while waiting for first aid“, had in particular remembered the candidate with Purepeople.