Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) walked away with the victory in this year’s season of the reality show «Kompani Lauritzen».
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– It was a touching moment to reach the finish line and see the whole team standing there, Mehl says to NTB.
On Saturday, she and the other participants gathered for a final party at Mesh in Oslo.
– Regardless of the result, “Kompani Lauritzen” is first and foremost about getting things together. It has been a fantastic unity where we have built each other up all the way. Without a good team, you are nothing, and I am proud of all 14 of us, she says.
Mehl came to the final together with Marius Skjelbæk, Emilie Nereng and Rikke Isaken.
– Absurd
She has received criticism for participating in the reality show, including from Aftenposten’s political editor Kjetil B. Alstadheim.
– There is war in Ukraine. At the same time, Norway’s emergency minister is playing war as Saturday entertainment. That is completely absurd, he tweeted in February.
Mehl responded to the criticism in VG :
– There was no possibility that I could predict this. The series was recorded last summer, and together with other experiences I have gained in life, the experiences from there are something I take with me into the job I have now, she said.
The series was recorded in the summer of 2021, before Mehl became Minister of Justice. She has asked TV 2 for her fee to be donated to voluntary organizations.
Beat out Damli and Stordalen
This is the third season of “Kompani Lauritzen”, which is also this time recorded at Setnesmoen camp by Åndalsnes in Møre og Romsdal.
Former top cyclist Dag Otto Lauritzen and host Kristian Ødegård are behind it. 14 compete to become part of Lauritzen’s fictional company. They start as recruits and have to learn military discipline. Every week they go through tough military exercises, and one participant is sent home.
The other participants in this year’s season were Ruben Markussen, Daniel Franck, Tone Damli Aaberge, Emilie Anker Stordalen, Dennis Siva Lie, Espen PA Lervaag, Lydia Gieselmann, Daniel Kvammen, Mayoo Indiran and Jan Tore Kjær.
Have won before
This is not the first time Mehl has participated in a reality show. In 2015, she won the first season of NRK’s ”Anno”, where the participants were to live as they did in Norway in 1764.
Mehl is the youngest ever Minister of Justice in Norway. She was first elected to the Storting in 2017, as a representative of Hedmark. From 2017 to 2020, she was a member of the Justice Committee and was from 2020 to 2021 a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
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