The silver lining in Sylvain Wiltord’s reality television misfortune is that it probably saved his life.
Wiltord, a former Arsenal and France national team forward, narrowly avoided a deadly helicopter crash that took the lives of three French sports stars and seven others in a remote part of Argentina on Monday. Wiltord was voted off the French show “Dropped” one day before two helicopters carrying cast and crew members collided and crashed, killing everyone on board.
Wiltord would have been on board one of the helicopters if had not been eliminated from the show. The tragedy shocked Wiltord, who said on Twitter “I’m sad for my friends, I’m trembling, I’m horrified, I have no words, I don’t want to say anything.”
[tweet https://twitter.com/sylwiltord/status/575084170491392000 align=’center’]
Among the victims were French Olympic gold medal swimmer Camille Muffat, French Olympic bronze medal boxer Alexis Vastine and sailor Florence Arthaud.
French television channel TF1 was to air “Dropped,” a survival-themed reality show in which eight star athletes are sent into difficult environments. Filming has been suspended, and the remaining cast and crew are returning to France.
Wiltord, 40, played for Arsenal from 2000 to 2004. He helped the Gunners win two Premier League titles and FA Cups. He also was a member of the France team that won the 2000 UEFA European Championship.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@Stuart_PhotoAFC
