Violette Petrucciani, the mother of French reality television pioneer Loana, has spoken publicly for the first time about her daughter's death, describing a life that swung from overnight fame to isolation and addiction. Loana was found dead at her home on 25 March at the age of 48.
Petrucciani and several of Loana's former colleagues appeared in a report titled "From Fairytale to Hell," broadcast on the French Sunday programme "Sept à Huit" on TF1. Petrucciani said she rarely leaves her home in Nice since her daughter's death and prefers to retreat into memories of the two of them windsurfing together and watching dolphins when Loana was a baby. She said her daughter's ashes would be scattered in the sea.
Petrucciani said she had said goodbye to a small pink wooden box, but not to her daughter, adding that she still could not accept or comprehend that Loana was dead.
Rise of a reality TV pioneer
Loana became France's first reality television star when she entered "Loft Story" on 26 April 2001. The show, France's version of Big Brother, placed eleven single strangers together around the clock for ten weeks under constant camera surveillance. Loana, then a 23-year-old professional nightclub dancer from Nice, quickly became its emblematic figure.
It was Petrucciani who signed her daughter up for the casting call. She recalled dialling the number herself and telling Loana someone wanted to speak with her, after which producers arranged an audition.
Angela Lorente, editor-in-chief of the first season of "Loft Story," said she immediately loved Loana after seeing her cross a Paris square carrying a small teddy-bear backpack, looking a little lost, and thought she resembled Marilyn Monroe.
Benjamin Castaldi, the show's young host at the time, said producers exaggerated Loana's image from the outset, dressing her in platform shoes and a midriff-baring top that did not reflect her real personality. Petrucciani said that on the eve of her daughter's entry into the house, Loana admitted she wanted to leave immediately, but her mother urged her to hold on for three days. Loana stayed until the end of the show.
Scandal and stardom in the Loft
Loana became a national sensation through two incidents. Two days after the show began, footage aired live of her in a swimming pool with fellow contestant Jean-Edouard, a moment Lorente said caused a scandal that spread across the internet and launched the format internationally. Lorente said the sequence was viewed millions of times.
Days later, Paris Match published a story revealing that Loana had a daughter, Mindy, who had been placed in social services care and hidden from producers. Loana's own family had sold the photographs to the press. Lorente admitted that from that point, things became difficult for Loana.
Loana went on to win the show after 70 days of confinement, finishing far ahead of other contestants, according to Castaldi. Petrucciani said she felt quickly overwhelmed by the sudden fame, recalling that she simply wanted to talk with her daughter but there were always photoshoots or other commitments. Lorente said the contestants had not been psychologically prepared, noting they had not entered the show to become famous but had lived out their real lives on what became France's most popular sitcom.
Seven years of fame and hidden addiction
A seven-year media whirlwind followed for Loana, including television appearances, haute couture runway shows, 80 magazine covers and an autobiography, "Elle m'appelait Miette." Castaldi said she became a brand and a phenomenon, holding money, fame, beauty and kindness all in her hands.
Lorente said that behind the glamour, Loana developed what she called the worst addiction of her life: an immeasurable need for love. In a 2009 appearance on "7 à 8," Loana had described the show as her magic wand, transforming her from nothing to everything and letting her attend any party she wanted, which she called her revenge on a difficult earlier life, when she had lived with her mother in a 15-square-metre room.
Petrucciani, who worked at a children's care home, said she warned her daughter repeatedly not to get mixed up with the wrong people, and that Loana promised to be careful.
Descent into addiction
Petrucciani's fears proved justified. Loana later described her excesses from that period, saying she fell into bad company, went out often in Paris, was offered illegal drugs, drank alcohol, and gradually sank into every possible addiction, entering a vicious and increasingly infernal cycle, according to comments she made in 2019.
Loana gradually withdrew from show business and entered a long personal decline marked by repeated tabloid headlines, suicide attempts and stays in psychiatric hospitals.
The production of "Loft Story" was long accused of abandoning its former contestants. Lorente acknowledged they did not receive enough psychological support, but said this was not what sent Loana down a destructive path. Castaldi agreed, saying people should stop blaming others and that he believed Loana was incapable of happiness even before appearing on the show. Despite this, Loana fought back at times, undergoing treatment and periods of rest.
A troubled childhood revealed
In 2017, Loana appeared to be doing better, and the following year she published a book detailing a difficult upbringing, including her mother's departure from the family home. Petrucciani said that when Loana was eleven and a half, her father threw her out, telling her to pack two suitcases and leave, and that she then slept in her car for two months.
Loana subsequently lived alone with her father for five years. She later revealed she had been the victim of sexual abuse. Petrucciani said her daughter told her that her father had raped her, a disclosure that left Petrucciani feeling as though she had been struck, and she believes it was the point at which Loana suffered a lasting psychological fracture.
Petrucciani said her daughter went on to have a series of increasingly toxic relationships, falling for narcissistic and abusive men. Lorente said Loana was poorly surrounded and consistently chose the wrong people to be close to her.
Final years and death
By 2024, Loana was financially ruined. She sold her Paris apartment, bought with money earned from "Loft Story," and moved closer to her mother in Nice, saying she was living on France's RSA welfare benefit.
One of her last friends was a neighbour who owned the kebab shop beneath her apartment. He said she seemed very tired but remained warm, kind and always smiling with everyone.
Loana's lifeless body was found at her home on 25 March. Investigators concluded her death was accidental. Lorente said her sadness today is that Loana died alone, of loneliness.
In her final book, Loana wrote that she had a confession to make: that if she had to do it all again, she would change nothing about her life, because she could not complain about it, having had the extraordinary fortune to live, and to go on living, a waking dream.
