Emil Renmarker, 23, and Amanda Fransson, 28, made it to the final by maneuvering the pacts, relationships, and intrigues that characterize Viaplay's reality show "Paradise Hotel". In the thrilling final episode, most participants voted for the duo to take home the win ahead of the other final pair – Mattias Helén and Moa Melin.
The victory has not quite sunk in yet for the two participants.
It's been so long since we recorded, and you haven't been able to tell anyone either. And we haven't received the prize money yet, so it doesn't really feel like you've won, says Emil Renmarker to TT.
No Expectations
He had no special expectations when he checked into the PH house, except that it would be a real adventure.
You're obviously in it to win, otherwise I wouldn't have been there at all. But I didn't really care that much about the money, it was more that I wanted to be on the show and get TV time, he says.
Amanda Fransson, on the other hand, was certain she would be eliminated early.
I thought I would be out by week two, I was totally convinced of it. My family told me it's very hard to stay in "Paradise" and that I'm very naive, so it was probably no one who expected me to stay, she says.
Building Relationships
The recipe for success in "Paradise Hotel" is not to take too much of all the drama that's going on, believes Emil Renmarker:
It's a game and you can't take everything so personally, he says, and gets support from Amanda Fransson:
The fact that I got as far as I did is probably due to my ability to build relationships. I think I won a lot because of that, she says.
In the classic final ceremony, where one of the winners can take home the entire prize money of 500,000 kronor, the winning pair chose to split the money. An obvious choice, according to Emil Renmarker:
I don't have the guts to take the whole prize, I couldn't take the prize away from the other person who went through this with. We've both gone through the same thing and it's physically and mentally draining, he says.
