In 2020, a few days before the 100th edition of the Miss France beauty contest, Geneviève de Fontenay had sent an open letter to the Jeanmarcmorandino.com site in which she confided in her regrets as well as in her health.
The former president of the Miss France Committee felt that she had “given everything to Miss France, sacrificed everything for this competition”. “I fought body and soul for 58 years to impose Miss France in the hearts of the French, so that this election is a success and changes the life of the chosen one forever. Miss France and me, it’s a story of love: the fruit of my meeting with Louis de Fontenay in 1952 when I was 22. I decided to follow him for a life as an entertainer”, she wrote.
The lady in the hat, aged 88 at the time, said she was sad not to participate in the centenary of this election which is so close to her heart: “Sad not to have been able to put my touch in this centenary of competitions of beauty, which owe me so much. Sad, finally, to see the election moving away from an audience that I took a long time to conquer but which has demonstrated exceptional loyalty, crossing the generations, “he said. she writes and adds: “As my centenary dawns and as my health gradually declines, I will watch the election.”
Geneviève de Fontenay said she was however proud “of the work accomplished” but also “sad” because “love stories should not end in pain”.
The former Miss had concluded with her few lines: “Forever and for eternity, the Miss France of yesterday and tomorrow, will be “my” Miss. Because I deeply love this contest to which I gave my life”.
Throughout her career, Geneviève de Fontenay has always been very frank in her words. It is true that his legendary outspokenness has earned him frequent headlines in the people press. We remember in particular his shocking remarks against Valérie Bègue, Miss France 2008.
“I will not accept that she is at Puy du Fou to hand over the crown during the election of miss France 2009. Otherwise, I lose face and my values”, she confided to the Parisian and to add: “This Stutterer, she wants to pass herself off as a victim. But it’s not me who banned her from international competitions, it’s the organizers who don’t want her. Me, I don’t want her in my galas. The problem today, when you look at certain misses, like the Dominican who finished runner-up to Miss World, is that there is no longer any difference between her and the candidates from The Island of Temptation. “.
More recently, the lady in the hat attacked the general manager of the Miss France Committee, Sylvie Tellier, whom she accuses of having “stole her life”: She stole my life! She stole something from me (…) She invited me (to the centenary Ed), but I said: ‘You are swollen! You invite me with something that belongs to me”, she confided to BFM TV and added: “Centennial, it could only suit me, not Sylvie Tellier”.
What the main interested party replied in the program L’info du vrai: “We must not forget that Geneviève still sold Miss France … for a large sum of money. stolen a brand that she sold, it’s a bit complicated anyway…”
After leaving the Miss France Committee, Geneviève de Fontenay created a dissident committee called Miss Prestige Nationale, formerly called Miss Nationale. The latter, which still exists, has also been at the heart of many controversies in the past.
“This competition is a scandal. Its organizer is filling its pockets. It seems that he cleared out just after the election. Frankly, it’s a shame! I don’t understand that Julien Lepers agreed to present it He is not growing out of this affair. I sent him an SMS to tell him what I thought but he never answered me, “said Geneviève de Fontenay.
In 2016, the lady in the hat announced her withdrawal from all beauty contests. Since then, she would travel the roads to meet her audience in signing sessions.
Over the beauty contests, Geneviève de Fontenay has become friends with many Miss France, including Élodie Gossuin, elected most beautiful woman in France in 2001. Always as accomplices, the two women had posed together, like the revealed the ex-winner on her Instagram account. “My Great Lady. Geneviève I love you. And she kisses you tenderly,” she wrote in the post’s caption.
A photo that moved the web, but which was also the target of strong criticism. “Too much makeup, it’s a shame. You have to have a light hand as you get older. We kiss it,” wrote one user and another added: “Hello this photo is scary”. Mockery that annoyed many of his fans. “My god the cruelty of people … she is 90 years old what a little respect! I find it admirable that she is still so flirtatious”.
