"Everyone is happy, except maybe Felicia. I was Robin Hood in the final," says Johannes Magnussen.
The final episode of "PH" airs close to SVT's acclaimed "Document from the Inside," about a previous season when contestants felt pressured to cross their personal boundaries. But this year's winners Magnussen and Hallgrén say they have not experienced anything similar and decline to comment.
Historic hat trick
Norwegian Johannes Magnussen had already won “Paradise Hotel” two years in a row in his home country and has now taken home his third consecutive win, becoming the first participant to win in both Norway and Sweden. For Magnussen, winning was more important than getting the prize money.
"I wanted to make history. I've thrown the ball twice before and I went in to win in Sweden and get a proper hat-trick, so I managed to do that," says Magnussen.
According to him, the path to success was being able to read a room and be liked even if you "play" hard.
The game runs 24 hours a day, and once things come up, you can build on the good relationships you already have, says Magnussen, who will use the prize money for "a nice vacation."
Finnish-Swedish Felicia Hallgrén had decided to throw the ball if she reached the final ceremony, but planned to wait until the prize money reached 200,000 kronor - and thought Magnussen would hold out longer. The fact that he had previously thrown the ball faster than another contestant stressed Hallgrén out.
It was terribly nerve-wracking, she says.
“Incredibly angry”
Hallgrén received criticism during the "grill" when other participants said that she had slipped into the finals on a shrimp sandwich.
It definitely hasn't been a shrimp sandwich, but I understand that it can seem that way. I've really just stayed in the background, been more analytical and tried to look at what people are doing to each other and understand where they are in the game, instead of getting involved and taking sides.
How do you feel about Johannes in retrospect, no "hard feelings"?
Now it feels calm. Then, right after the ball was in front of me, I got glass splinters in front of my feet because he threw it so hard on the ground; it felt so damn bad. I was incredibly, incredibly angry. But time heals all wounds, Hallgrén says.
Fact: This is how the finale in "Paradise Hotel" happens
Two final pairs are pitted against each other and the previous participants who have been voted out during the season get to choose which pair they want to send to the final by backing the pair they think is the most worthy winner. In the final, the winning pair stands with a glass ball in each hand.
The host puts up 50,000 kronor at a time and the finalists can choose to throw the ball into the ground or hold on to it until the next level. If they throw the ball before the host has reached 250,000 kronor, the participant who threw it gets to keep the amount he or she threw, while the remaining participants (except the other winner) get to share the money that is left over.
