Miss France

The Miss France is a French national beauty pageant, held annually in December. The competition was first held in 1920, and has been organized continuously since 1947. The trademark for the pageant is owned by the company Miss France SAS, and is a subsidiary of Endemol Shine France. The competition is aired on TF1.

For the racehorse, see Miss France (horse).
For the most recent competition, see Miss France 2023.

Miss France
Formation1920 (1920)
TypeBeauty pageant
HeadquartersParis
Location
Membership
Official language
French
Key people
Alexia Laroche-Joubert (President)
Frédéric Gilbert
(Director-General)
Cindy Fabre
(National Director)
Websitetf1.fr/miss-france/

The Miss France was first organized in 1920, under the name La plus belle femme de France (English: The most beautiful woman of France), and was held for one additional year before being abandoned until 1927. That year, the competition was rebranded into Miss France, and was held annually until 1940, due to World War II. In 1947, following the end of the war, the competition was revived and has been held annually since. In 1954, Guy Lévy founded the Miss France Committee (French: comité Miss France) to organize the competition. Geneviève de Fontenay took over the Miss France Committee in 1981, until departing in 2007. Following the departure of de Fontenay, Sylvie Tellier served as the national director of Miss France until August 2022, when she was replaced by Cindy Fabre. In October 2021, Alexia Laroche-Joubert was announced as the new president of the Miss France Committee, working alongside Tellier and later Fabre. In March 2023, Frédéric Gilbert, a longtime producer of Miss France, was appointed by Laroche-Joubert as director-general.

Contestants of Miss France must meet a number of eligibility requirements and first win a regional title which qualifies them for the national competition, representing their region. A number of these regions also organize local competitions corresponding with cities and departments within the region, which must be won first before one can compete in the regional competition. The winner of Miss France resides in Paris during her year of reign in a rent-free apartment, in addition to winning a number of additional prizes and sponsorship deals while receiving a monthly salary. Typically, the winner represents France at either Miss Universe or Miss World, while her first runner-up competes at the other pageant. In some instances, the predecessor of the reigning titleholder would compete at the other pageant or the two would switch years in order to avoid any scheduling conflicts between their assigned international pageant and the next Miss France competition.

The current Miss France is Indira Ampiot, who was crowned on 17 December 2022 at Miss France 2023. She had previously been crowned Miss Guadeloupe 2022, and is the fourth woman from Guadeloupe to win the title.

History

The Miss France was first organized in 1920, under the name La plus belle femme de France (English: The most beautiful woman of France). The competition was founded by journalist Maurice de Waleffe, who chose to have the winner be decided by French filmgoers.[1] After more than 1,700 women applied for the competition, 49 finalists were chosen. The competition was held over the course of several weeks, with filmgoers being given a ballot with seven women, and asked to select their favorite. Agnès Souret was selected as the inaugural winner. The following year, the competition was held again, with Pauline Pô winning the competition. However, La plus belle femme de France was later abandoned after 1921.[2]

Six years later the competition was revived under the name Miss France, with a new format organized by Robert and Jean Cousin.[2] Miss France continued to be held annually until 1940, when World War II disrupted entertainment events. The competition later resumed in 1947, following the end of the war, and has been held annually since then. In 1986, the competition was aired live on TF1, becoming the first edition of Miss France to be broadcast live on national television.[3]

Osez le féminisme, a French feminist organization, sued Miss France and its parent company, Endemol Production, in 2021 for sexist and discriminatory regulations.[4] The lawsuit argues that the contestants in the pageant should be considered employees of the competition, thereby forbidding Miss France and Endemol from engaging in discrimination.[5] In October 2021, Alexia Laroche-Joubert was announced as the new president of the Miss France Committee, working alongside Sylvie Tellier, the national director.[6] In August 2022, Tellier was reported to have resigned her position as national director of Miss France, and was replaced by Cindy Fabre. Tellier continued to serve in an advisory role with the organization, until her departure at the conclusion of Miss France 2023.[7] In March 2023, Frédéric Gilbert, a longtime producer of Miss France, was appointed by Laroche-Joubert as director-general.[8]

Contestants

Each year, contestants are chosen through a series of regional pageants held throughout metropolitan and overseas France in the summer and autumn before the national competition. Over time, the regions represented at Miss France have varied slightly. The following 31 regional pageants currently send contestants to Miss France:

The regional competitions are organized by regional committees, and contestants must reside in the region they choose to represent. Regional committees have their own discretion as to how they wish to field candidates for the regional competitions. Some choose to organize a number of local competitions corresponding to cities or departments within the region, while others use open casting processes. Public voting is used to select winners of both regional pageants and the national competition.[9][10][11][12][13] The winner of the national competition subsequently receives a number of prizes, including a rent-free apartment in Paris, sponsorship deals, and a monthly salary.[14][15][16]

Rules and eligibility

In order to compete in Miss France, contestants must meet the following eligibility requirements:[17]

Contestants must:

  • Be legally female and of French nationality through birth or naturalization.
  • Be above age 18 on 1 November of the year of the competition.
  • Be at least 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) tall.
  • Have a clean criminal record.

Contestants must not:

  • Have had her image exploited in a manner that could be incompatible or pose an obstacle to the organizers' rights.
  • Have received cosmetic surgery or use appearance-altering products such as wigs or colored contact lenses.
  • Have ever posed partially or completely nude, including after the competition as well.
  • Have associated with political or religious propaganda while a regional titleholder.

The pageant's code of ethics also requires that contestants not engage in smoking or public alcohol consumption. Failure to comply with pageant rules carries a fine of 5,000 Euro.[18]

Prior to Miss France 2023, contestants also could not have been married, divorced, or widowed; have children or have been pregnant; be above the age of 24 on 1 November of the year of the competition; or have visible tattoos or non-ear piercings.[9][17]

Recent titleholders
For full list and details, see List of Miss France titleholders.
Year Miss France Region Age[lower-alpha 1] Hometown Notes
2023 Indira Ampiot  Guadeloupe 18 Basse-Terre
2022 Diane Leyre  Île-de-France 24 Paris TBA at Miss Universe 2023
2021 Amandine Petit  Normandy 23 Bourguébus Top 21 at Miss Universe 2020
2020 Clémence Botino  Guadeloupe 22 Le Gosier Top 10 at Miss Universe 2021 and TBA at Miss World 2023
2019 Vaimalama Chaves  Tahiti 24 Mahina

Winners by region
Number Region Years
16  Île-de-France
7  Normandy
  • 1958
  • 1967
  • 1981
  • 1984
  • 2005
  • 2010
  • 2021
 Rhône-Alpes
  • 1930
  • 1957
  • 1965
  • 1968
  • 1988
  • 1996
  • 2002
 Aquitaine
6  Alsace
  • 1940
  • 1969
  • 1985
  • 1987
  • 2004
  • 2012
 Brittany
  • 1928
  • 1937
  • 1960
  • 1961
  • 1962
  • 2011
Nice Côte d'Azur
  • 1932
  • 1947
  • 1951
  • 1954
  • 1966
  • 1982
5  Tahiti
4  Picardy
  • 1936
  • 1953
  • 2001
  • 2007
 Languedoc-Roussillon
  • 1929
  • 1938
  • 1971
  • 2006
 Guadeloupe
  • 1993
  • 2003
  • 2020
  • 2023
3
 Nord-Pas-de-Calais
  • 2015
  • 2016
  • 2018
 Burgundy
 Lorraine
  • 1973
  • 1975
  • 1998
 Pays de la Loire
 Poitou-Charentes
2  Réunion
  • 1976
  • 2008
 Franche-Comté
1  French Guiana
  • 2017
 Centre-Val de Loire
  • 2014
 Midi-Pyrénées
  • 2009
 Provence
  • 1979
 New Caledonia
 Morocco[lower-alpha 7]
  • 1956
 Saar[lower-alpha 8]
  • 1935
 Corsica
  • 1921

Notes
  1. Ages at the time of Miss France
  2. In 1972, winner Chantal Bouvier de la Motte of Île-de-France resigned the title after suffering serious injuries after falling off of a horse. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Claudine Cassereau of Poitou-Charentes, as Miss France 1972.
  3. In 1978, winner Pascale Taurua of New Caledonia resigned the title shortly after winning due to her wishing to remain in New Caledonia and not move to Paris. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Brigitte Konjovic of Île-de-France, as Miss France 1978.
  4. In 1983, winner Isabelle Turpault of Île-de-France was dethroned after images taken of her in an erotic photoshoot were released, against pageant rules. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Frédérique Marcelle Leroy of Aquitaine, as Miss France 1983.
  5. In 1980, winner Thilda Fuller of Tahiti resigned the title three days after winning due to personal reasons. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Patricia Barzyk of Franche-Comté, as Miss France 1980.
  6. In 1964, winner Arlette Collot of Burgundy was dethroned after refusing to travel throughout France as part of her official duties. She was replaced by her first runner-up, Jacqueline Gayraud of Pays de la Loire, as Miss France 1964.
  7. Until 1956, Morocco was under control of France as the French Protectorate in Morocco.
  8. Until 1935, Saarbrücken was part of the Territory of the Saar Basin, a region of Germany that was administered by the United Kingdom and France under the control of the League of Nations.

References
  1. La société Miss France Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
  2. "Historique". Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  3. "Biographie de Geneviève De Fontenay". tf1.fr (in French)..
  4. "Miss France sued for 'no mothers', 'no married women' rule for contestants". Women's Agenda. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  5. "Moms and short people need not apply: Miss France pageant sued over eligibility rules". CBC radio. 20 October 2021.
  6. Brachet, Laurie (13 October 2021). "Sylvie Tellier évincée de Miss France ? Alexia Laroche-Joubert est officiellement nommée présidente de la société". Voici.fr.
  7. "Miss France : Sylvie Tellier remplacée par Cindy Fabre à la tête du concours". Le Parisien (in French). 30 August 2022.
  8. "Sylvie Tellier : découvrez qui est son remplaçant à la direction générale de Miss France". voici.fr (in French). 20 March 2023.
  9. Miss France registration form (in French)
  10. MISS FRANCE SAS sur SOCIETE.COM (in French)
  11. WIPO Domain Name Decision (in French)
  12. L'entreprise "Miss France" Archived 11 December 2012 at archive.today (in French)
  13. Miss France 2010 : Malika Ménard élue avec 34% des votes du public Archived 18 July 2012 at archive.today (in French)
  14. Boquet-Vautor, Lorelei (17 December 2017). "Miss France 2018 : La grande gagnante est Maeva Coucke alias Miss Nord Pas de Calais" (in French). TF1.
  15. "À CHÂTEAUROUX, MAËVA COUCKE, MISS NORD-PAS-DE-CALAIS DEVIENT MISS FRANCE 2018 !" (in French). Wit. 16 December 2017. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  16. "Maëva Coucke, Miss Nord Pas-de-Calais, wins Miss France 2018". Lucire. 17 December 2017.
  17. "Miss France selon Alexia Laroche-Joubert, les règles changent". Paris Match (in French). 21 June 2022.
  18. Leah Dolan. "Miss France pageant faces lawsuit for requiring all contestants to be at least 5-foot-5, unmarried and child-free". CNN. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
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