Shock for the world of the small screen: Loana, the first reality TV star thanks to her victory in “Loft Story”, on M6, is dead. Here’s everything you need to know about her.
This March 25, 2026, the site of Paris Match announces the death of Loana. “Loana died at the age of 48. She was found unresponsive at home by the municipal police.“, we can read. For the moment, we do not know the cause of his death. But Nice-Morning adds: “An investigation has been opened to determine the causes of death, which dates back several days.“
Loana Petrucciani, or Loana for short, stood out in 2001 in Loft Storyfirst reality show from M6. The blonde with the model’s physique will have turned all heads, especially those of her pool companion, Jean-Edouard. Endearing, she had captured the hearts of the French.
Loana: her career after Loft Story
Upon leaving the Loft, his growing notoriety allowed him to publish his autobiography She called me Miette written by Jean-François Kervéan. And to release his first title, As I love you, which was a hit with young people and placed 18th in the singles ranking in France. Her dream visual arts opened the doors to the very popular world of fashion and earned her a runway show for Jean Paul Gaultier, then she became a stylist by creating her own clothing line in collaboration with La Halle.
His career continued on television screens with his participation in 2006 in I’m a celebrity, get me out of here! in the Brazilian jungle. Unfortunately, with success comes excess. The young woman has difficulty bearing the media pressure, forgotten overnight after having been adored by an entire country, she sinks into depression, alcohol and anti-depressants.
Loana: comas, cardiac arrests, trauma
The descent into hell begins and so does his physical transformation. Victim of the cruelty of the media, Loana is quickly overtaken by her difficult past. “My father beat me, he told me I was going to end up a prostitute, my mother abandoned me at 17“, she confided to Closer in 2009. The star accumulates pounds and makes multiple suicide attempts.
Later, she revealed that she had been raped and explained her weight gain as nervous diabetes as a result of this trauma. She also explains on the show #TBTbroadcast on Snapchat, that she survived “three comas and two cardiac arrests“.
Loana: the men in her life
In 2011, the former go-go dancer made her big comeback in the Reality TV Angels in Miamidetermined to take control of her life and leave her old demons behind her. But the road is long and difficult. The French public does not spare him. And neither do the men who cross his path.
On the heart side, daily life is difficult for Loana. “I’ve met men in long relationships who all hurt me. And I think they actually destroyed me (…) One of them, we went out together, I thought he was Prince Charming and he waited to go out with me, to kiss me to tell me that he was gay and in a relationship for sixteen years. People have often said to me: ‘Do you really think I was with you for you? But it was for the money“, she confides in an episode of The Villa of Broken Hearts.
One of her companions does not hesitate to demean her, to drag her lower than the earth. “He told me: ‘You’re worthless, you’re useless.’ With his friends, he said: ‘You can imagine the courage I have to get up next to that every day’. At that time, I weighed 120 kilos“, she says. She is even the victim of fraud; “He stole my credit card. He stole more than 100,000 euros from me“.
Loana goes back up the slope and finds the line… for a while
After yet another stormy media appearance during her relationship with Phil Storm, ex-candidate of Mister France, in 2017, Loana does not let herself be defeated. Her figure regained, the pretty blonde shines again during an appearance on TV. She is in the cast of season 4 of The Villa of Broken Hearts broadcast on TFX in 2019.
Fantastic smile and appearance, happiness finally smiles on her: she reveals having had a sleeve (bariatric stomach surgery) to feel completely good about herself and to silence the evil tongues, those who attacked her on her physique. “Dizziness, nausea and fatigue are daily occurrences and you have to learn to live with them… It’s a difficult battle every day but it’s worth it.“, she explained on Instagram.
Loana: the (re)descent into hell
For Loana, life finally seems to be beginning… but her demons inevitably catch up with her. In March 2021, while France celebrates the 20th anniversary of Loft Story, the starlet is in bad shape. She overdoses on GHB and has to be hospitalized. “5 days of coma, cardiac arrest and lung infection, so the happiest day of my life, I was in a coma“, she explains on Instagram.
She accuses her agent and friend at the time, Sylvie Ortega Munoz, of having “given too much medication” the night of her overdose. Allegations that she denies outright. Ludovic Chancel’s widow even goes so far as to describe Loana as “cameo suffering from a disease called mythomania“.
Loana: her end of life in Nice, at the RSA and helped by Alexia Laroche-Joubert
A complicated period for the winner of Loft Story, who tries to get back in control with the help of her friend, Eryl Prayer, the Elvis Presley lookalike. With him, Loana performs on stage and sings a song. Unfortunately, she works little and, in 2022, she reveals to Public that she is at the RSA.
In recent years, Loana lived in a modest apartment in Nice whose rent was paid by Alexia Laroche-Joubert, producer of Loft Story. “She pays me the rent while I get back into shape. She made me a beautiful apartment, she takes good care of me!“, Loana revealed to Here in October 2024.
