Miss France

For the racehorse, see Miss France (horse).

For the most recent competition, see Miss France 2024.

Miss France

Type	Beauty pageant
Headquarters	Paris
Country represented	France
Qualifies for	Miss Universe Miss World
First edition	1920
Most recent edition	2024
Current titleholder	Ève Gilles Nord-Pas-de-Calais
President	Frédéric Gilbert
National director	Cindy Fabre
Language	French
Website	miss-france.fr

Miss France is a national beauty pageant in France 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.

The Miss France pageant 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 it was disrupted in 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. Laroche-Joubert departed from the Miss France Committee in December 2023, and was replaced by Gilbert.

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 progress to competing 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 Eve Gilles, who was crowned on 16 December 2023 at Miss France 2024. She had previously been crowned Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais 2023, and is the fourth woman from Nord Pas-de-Calais 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. Geneviève de Fontenay, who had begun her career with the Miss France Committee in 1954, became its president in 1981, transforming it into a company, and bringing it to a live broadcast in 1986, when the competition became the first edition of Miss France to be broadcast live on national television on TF1, where it has remained since. ^[3] In 2011, a competing competition, Miss Excellence France  [ fr ] was launched by Geneviève de Fontenay after her resignation from the Miss France Society in April 2010. ^{[4] [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] In November 2023, Laroche-Joubert announced she would resign from her leadership role with Miss France following the conclusion of Miss France 2024, due to her responsibilities as CEO of Banijay France; she was replaced by Gilbert as president upon her departure. ^[9]

Osez le féminisme, a French feminist organization, sued Miss France and its parent company, Endemol Production, in 2021 for sexist and discriminatory regulations. ^[10] 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. ^[11] A Paris court later dismissed the group's claims and threw out the lawsuit in January 2023. ^[12]

In April 2024, it was revealed that a museum dedicated to Miss France would open in the town of Saint-Raphaël in the Var department in 2025. ^{[13] [14]}

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:

• Miss Alsace
• Miss Aquitaine
• Miss Auvergne
• Miss Brittany
• Miss Burgundy
• Miss Centre-Val de Loire
• Miss Champagne-Ardenne
• Miss Corsica
• Miss Côte d'Azur
• Miss Franche-Comté
• Miss French Guiana
• Miss Guadeloupe
• Miss Île-de-France
• Miss Languedoc
• Miss Limousin
• Miss Lorraine
• Miss Martinique
• Miss Mayotte
• Miss Midi-Pyrénées
• Miss New Caledonia
• Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais
• Miss Normandy
• Miss Pays de la Loire
• Miss Picardy
• Miss Poitou-Charentes
• Miss Provence
• Miss Réunion
• Miss Roussillon
• Miss Rhône-Alpes
• Miss Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy
• Miss Tahiti

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. ^{[15] [16] [17] [18] [19]} 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. ^{[20] [21] [22]}

Rules and eligibility

In order to compete in Miss France, contestants must meet the following eligibility requirements: ^[23]

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. ^[24]

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. ^{[15] [23]}

Recent titleholders

For full list and details, see List of Miss France titleholders.

Year	Miss France	Region	Age [lower-alpha 1]	Hometown	Notes
2024	Ève Gilles	Nord-Pas-de-Calais	20	Quaëdypre
2023	Indira Ampiot	Guadeloupe	18	Basse-Terre	TBA at Miss Universe 2024
2022	Diane Leyre	Île-de-France	24	Paris
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 Top 40 at Miss World 2023

Gallery

• 
  Miss France 2024
  Ève Gilles
• 
  Miss France 2023
  Indira Ampiot
• 
  Miss France 2022
  Diane Leyre
• 
  Miss France 2021
  Amandine Petit
• 
  Miss France 2020
  Clémence Botino

Winners by region

Number	Region	Years
16	Île-de-France	1933 1934 1935 1939 1948 1949 1950 1955 1963 1970 1972 [lower-alpha 2] 1978 [lower-alpha 3] 1983 [lower-alpha 4] 1986 1997 2022
7	Normandy	1958 1967 1981 1984 2005 2010 2021
	Rhône-Alpes	1930 1957 1965 1968 1988 1996 2002
	Aquitaine	1920 1931 1952 1983 [lower-alpha 4] 1989 1990 1995
6	Alsace	1940 1969 1985 1987 2004 2012
	Brittany	1928 1937 1960 1961 1962 2011
	Côte d'Azur	1932 1947 1951 1954 1966 1982
5	Tahiti	1974 1980 [lower-alpha 5] 1991 1999 2019
4	Nord-Pas-de-Calais	2015 2016 2018 2024
	Guadeloupe	1993 2003 2020 2023
	Picardy	1936 1953 2001 2007
3
	Burgundy	1964 [lower-alpha 6] 2000 2013
	Languedoc	1929 1971 2006
	Lorraine	1973 1975 1998
	Pays de la Loire	1964 [lower-alpha 6] 1992 1994
	Poitou-Charentes	1959 1972 [lower-alpha 2] 1977
2	Réunion	1976 2008
	Franche-Comté	1927 1980 [lower-alpha 5]
1	French Guiana	2017
	Centre-Val de Loire	2014
	Midi-Pyrénées	2009
	Provence	1979
	New Caledonia	1978 [lower-alpha 3]
	Morocco [lower-alpha 7]	1956
	Roussillon	1938
	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. Leconte, Sandrine (2 August 2023). "Geneviève de Fontenay, former president of the Miss France Committee, has died". Le Monde . Retrieved 8 August 2023.
5. "Geneviève de Fontenay organisera ses propres concours de miss". Le Parisien. 31 March 2010.
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. Lecoeuvre, Sarah (17 November 2023). "Alexia Laroche-Joubert quitte (déjà) la présidence de la société Miss France". Le Figaro (in French).
10. "Miss France sued for 'no mothers', 'no married women' rule for contestants". Women's Agenda. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
11. "Moms and short people need not apply: Miss France pageant sued over eligibility rules". CBC radio. 20 October 2021.
12. "Is Miss France discriminatory? Paris court dismisses feminist group's claims". France 24 . 6 January 2023.
13. "The first Miss France Museum is set to open next year on the French Riviera". Euronews . 9 April 2024.
14. Chazan, David (9 April 2024). "Musée of Miss France: controversial contest celebrated in museum". The Times .
15. Miss France registration form ^{[ permanent dead link ]} (in French)
16. MISS FRANCE SAS sur SOCIETE.COM (in French)
17. WIPO Domain Name Decision (in French)
18. L'entreprise "Miss France" Archived 11 December 2012 at archive.today (in French)
19. Miss France 2010 : Malika Ménard élue avec 34% des votes du public Archived 18 July 2012 at archive.today (in French)
20. Boquet-Vautor, Lorelei (17 December 2017). "Miss France 2018 : La grande gagnante est Maeva Coucke alias Miss Nord Pas de Calais" (in French). TF1.
21. "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.
22. "Maëva Coucke, Miss Nord Pas-de-Calais, wins Miss France 2018". Lucire. 17 December 2017.
23. "Miss France selon Alexia Laroche-Joubert, les règles changent". Paris Match (in French). 21 June 2022.
24. Leah Dolan (20 October 2021). "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.

External links

• Passion Miss Archived 22 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• Miss France
• (in French) Official site
• http://www.lempimissit.suntuubi.com Archived 27 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Official Maldives partner page for 2011
• http://passionmiss.xooit.fr/index.php Archived 22 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine (Site for fans, in French)
• La vérité tirée du chapeau ^{[ permanent dead link ]} ("The truth pulled out of the hat", in French)