by Chiara Maffioletti
The pair of friends triumphed on the first edition of Sky’s ‘Beijing Express’. “The TikTokers took it out on us. We never thought we would win”
No, they didn’t expect it. Victoria Cabello and Paride Vitale would never have bet on their victory at the “Peking Express”. “Paris had already made appointments ten days after we left, he was so sure that he would be back immediately”.
Instead you won. And tears flowed too.
Cabello: «After the win, I looked like one of the kissers, with mascara poured on. I was a mask of pain. But I want to say one thing: we beat Enzo Miccio».
Vitale: «On the other hand, in the whole experience, I cried only once when I saw an Uzbek bathroom».
A bunch of friends who are now ready for anything.
V: «And to say that among all our friends we are the most handicapped, who cannot do anything and are last in everything».
C: “Yes, they mostly invite us because we are good-humored presenters, animators who lighten the mood at confirmations and weddings without even drinking.”
Did you learn more about each other?
V: «I was surprised to see Vicky so determined: she is also so determined in real life, but she is also someone who comes down, who has downs. But not with “Peking Express”: From the very first episode, there wasn’t one for her; He asked for a ride and that was screwed up, we never left. She also asked a worker who was working for a ride, ended up getting in the car and driving us around for two hours, probably getting fired a minute later. In short, as soon as the race started, she forgot all her fears and anxieties ».
C: «For me, this experience was really a turning point, a moment of rebirth. I really feel like I’ve changed again and, to be honest, that I’ve left all the burdens I’ve been carrying, illnesses and actually bad moments, in my Beijing backpack. It was super exhausting, but it was worth it. Paride and I have known each other for over twenty years and we’ve done everything together: we know each other very well and this thing was actually a great advantage. Also because we could not count on physical strength and intelligence ».
They were couples of parents and children and yet they arrived later…
V: «Because there is always one who protects the other, but we supported each other. We started with the spirit of fun and with the advantage that you can send yourself to this country and then recover in thirty seconds ».
What was it like not seeing each other 24 hours a day at home?
C: «For Paris I think a relief, I have entered mourning. For me, living alone and used to being alone, it was wonderful to have Paris and the whole group around me all the time, like being with family. In fact, I’m emotionally drained now, as I always am when an experience ends: maybe that’s why I don’t get engaged anymore, as I usually think about what it’s going to be like from day one if we give up.
V: «I couldn’t wait to go home. Then I realized that my agency was better than ever after being away for more than a month, so I decided that I will go away for four weeks every October ».
And how did the others do?
C: «Since the day Beijing ended, we have had a group chat that we use a lot. A group of people has formed that we loved, I am very attached to all of them and we are already planning a holiday with some of them. The only tension was with Italy-Brazil: they were tough in the match, they made all the eggs spin a bit, but when the pair traded and I ended up in the match with Helena, I understood a lot of other things.
V: «For me, Natasha, Sasha, Aurora and Fru are friends forever. In general everyone who did the cast was very good because they created a group that loves each other. Only with the Tik Tokers that we eliminated were we unable to repair a relationship and sorry, a comparison would have been nice. But they didn’t take it well and they didn’t love us like they did before ».
What if you only get one reminder of everyone?
C: «I would say the first episode when they threw us into this world where we just knew we had to survive. We met Baba, who opened the doors of his house for us and made us understand that he is a person to rely on.”
V: «I didn’t want to sleep in any of the houses we found. But a great lesson from this program is that beyond our prejudices, there are amazing things. On my own I wouldn’t even have set foot in the places I’ve been, but I did and I met amazing people. In what is undoubtedly the poorest house I have seen in my life, we were hosted by a gentleman who was in very difficult conditions: he was a huge man with a dirty shirt, I thought: “this will kill us in the night”. Instead he turned out to be the cutest dad alive living to study his daughter who wants to build a little archettetto. When we got home we sent him a package with everything he needed to do it ».
In hindsight, did you help the people you met there?
C: «Yes, we sent everyone something to thank them. We are in contact with Mohammed, the boy who accompanied us for two days, and we have decided to support him in his studies. In addition, many now contact him through his Instagram profile to have him as a guide in Istanbul on the Beijing routes ».
V: «Basically, we have met better people than our closest relatives, people who have done everything for us. If someone in my house with a red backpack on their shoulder told me if they could come and sleep in my house, I would run away screaming. Instead, I discovered an incredible humanity.”
When you need to suggest a destination for a trip?
V: «Uzbekistan: I didn’t even know where it was on the map before, but it’s really beautiful, both for the capital and for the whole part of the Silk Road. And with super hospitable people “
C: «I agree, although I also loved Jordan and Cappadocia very much. In general, I think that an insight into the Islamic world was offered here that is very different from what many people think.”
V: «We recommend the route of the sultans Daniela Santanché, Salvini and two or three others».
Why was Costantino della Gherardesca moved when you won?
C: «He has known me for many years and I would like to say one thing: I think I owe him a lot. He was very insistent that I go along, he always asked me and he really wanted me to give myself a chance after years of still being. I am very grateful to him. He knows what I have experienced through the disease in recent years and reaching the end of this path was a surprise for him too, who perhaps did not hope for it. In the end it’s a Patatone … a chic Patatone ».
May 13, 2022 (Change May 13, 2022 | 14:20)
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