Although they have been referred to several times as Valkyries by other couples of Beijing Express, Natasha Stefanenko and Sasha Sabbioni they are the portrait of sweetness and elegance. What is striking about them, in addition to the icy gaze and the glow of the skin – “When I get a tan, my skin turns golden”, says Natasha – is, in fact, the care in the choice of words and a strength of spirit on which few would have bet at the start of the Sky program that saw them arrive incredibly second behind Crazy Victoria Cabello and Paride Vitale.
“Getting to the final carpet was already a victory: I would have been sorry if we had finished third, because we would have finished one step away from the red carpet “, says Sasha who, after the experience of Beijing Express with his mother, he prepares to write his thesis in Economics and to move to Paris in September, where he will specialize in Management. Their couple, in addition to making us fall madly in love with that all-female cooperation that has now fallen into disuse, also managed to redeem the category of parents and daughters that in reality shows have never managed to come out at their best. Natasha and Sasha have succeeded in the impossible: to see them side by side a Beijing Express it was a gift that, regardless of their position on the podium, undoubtedly led them to be elected moral winners of this edition. “Our life is divided into before and after Beijing: we still have to digest several passages, but it is an experience that has changed us for the better ».
Have you ever heard of Valkyries?
Sasha Sabbioni: “At some point, yes, even if it was all a matter of luck. We were proud to win, but then they also feared that, in the long run, everyone would hate us ».
Natasha Stefanenko: “Beijing it’s unpredictable: one day everything is fine and the other the world collapses on you. The only thing that helped us to move forward was the discipline in sport: we both competed, and we know how to concentrate in the races so as not to go haywire. We tried to stay on track ».
The nice thing is that you were the opponents to beat, but you weren’t on the fence about anyone… except maybe Italy-Brazil.
NS: “We didn’t hate them, but their strategy was aggressive enough.”
SS: “I think I was especially angry with me, that’s why they threw me downstairs.”
NS: “We were sorry to dwell on this nonsense, because we were doing another one Beijing, we were far from the way in which they faced Italy-Brazil. Their strategy was wrong for me, but in the end it allowed them to reach the ninth episode ».
Sasha wasn’t part of show business: where did it all start from?
NS: “It was she who pushed me to participate even though, to be honest, before leaving I thought I would do everything myself because I was convinced that my daughter was comfortable: I saw her as fragile, not as a warrior. At home she ran 10 minutes on the treadmill and then, a Beijing Express, I found myself facing 12 kilometers like a splinter. She then she was a strategist: she studied, imagined, thought, prepared ».
SS: «All thanks to Enzo Miccio: studying his moves in the previous edition, I was very well prepared. In fact, when it materialized, I almost got excited. It was no coincidence that he understood us, he knew well the effort we made ».
Natasha, her first choice for Beijing Express was her husband Luca Sabbioni.
NS: «It has been a long time since Beijing Express he was looking for me, but I wanted to do it with him because I knew what awaited me. Except, every time they did, Luca worked. In the meantime, however, Sasha has grown up ».
SS: “I think the two of them would have lasted half an episode. He has his times and his rhythms ».
NS: “We are too anxious, but he is one who thinks long before acting, and he sure would have helped.”
Natasha, did your family manage to follow the program?
NS: «They don’t understand Italian. Then they live in Russia and, especially at the moment, they are quite cut off: it is not a particularly peaceful time for everyone. I explained everything to them, including why I had disappeared from social networks for so long “.
Did you, like the Pazzeschi, also think about going out after a few episodes?
NS: «For us it was important not to go out at the first episode: at each end of the stage we aimed for the one after, but we never thought we would get to the end».
SS: «We were concentrated as much as possible, and this helped us especially in the race».
Natasha, how do you feel that Sasha is going to live in Paris?
NS: «I am very serene and happy. I was much more agitated when she went to Los Angeles at 16: she used to be always at home, she didn’t travel that much. For me it was a very thoughtful experience but then, when she came back, I found her mature, tough, a young woman ».
Sasha, Beijing Express for her it was a parenthesis, or would you do a little thought on TV one day?
SS: «I would do a little thought, I will keep it as a possibility. For now, however, I concentrate on studying ».
NS: “After Beijing Express I am very calm: he can do what he wants. I have seen his preparation and determination. Before starting this path, however, I prepared it ».
How?
SS: «He advised me not to say everything that was going through my head because the TV does not forgive and the editing is what remains. Thinking before speaking and not arguing immediately was crucial ».
Natasha, what’s in your future?
NS: «I still have to understand what to do: I’m evaluating some proposals, I’m figuring out which direction to go. I love the world of cinema very much, but with this situation it is unfortunately difficult. Once I had the whim of working in Russia, and I did: let’s see what life offers me, I like to let myself go and see the opportunities that pass me by. The important thing is to catch them ».
Beijing Express 2022: the surrender of Italy-Brazil and the moving outburst of Victoria Cabello
Bugo: “I smile in the face of pain”
Beijing Express 2022: Victoria Cabello and Paride Vitale deserve a late show on Sky
Beijing Express 2022: Enzo Miccio’s substitute is a standing ovation
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Source: Vanity Fair
