A new book by a former insider alleges that multiple Miss France winners were raped or sexually assaulted after being crowned, sometimes within hours of receiving the title, and that dozens of contestants and regional officials contributed testimony about abuses behind the scenes.
Hubert Guérin, who served as deputy to the contest’s former president Geneviève de Fontenay, published Miss France, from dream to reality this week and told French media he began the work in 2020 with Fontenay’s agreement. Guérin told RTL and other outlets that the book includes accounts from "about ten" former Miss France winners who described sexual violence, and said that in total as many as 60 winners and regional elected officials came forward to testify.
Guérin said the reported incidents ranged from groping to forced oral sex and rape. He quoted one former winner as saying, "I was raped a few hours after being elected Miss France: in my room, I was pushed against the bed, called every name under the sun, and my dress was torn off." Guérin told RTL: "We're facing a competition that crushes, crushes young girls." He also accused "members of the Miss France organisation," including some senior executives still in office, without naming alleged attackers.
No former Miss France winner has publicly filed a criminal complaint over the claims cited in the book, Guérin said, and he blamed a culture of silence, which he described as an "omertà," and pressure on contestants for the lack of legal action.
The allegations have been met with denials and calls for proof from within the pageant community. Camille Cerf, Miss France 2015, said on X that she had never spoken to Guérin and that comments attributed to her in the book were "false and completely fabricated." Sylvie Tellier, Miss France 2002 and a former head of the organisation, said she was not contacted to testify and said she had never heard of such assaults within the organisation. Tellier told RTL that had she been informed of harassment or assault during her 15 years at the helm of Miss France she would have encouraged victims to file complaints and argued that "you don't do justice in a book, you do justice in court."
The Miss France Society issued a statement ahead of the book's publication saying it had "taken note of the reported allegations of sexual violence and attacks on the integrity of the candidates, which allegedly took place between 1990 and 2002, without naming the people concerned." The statement said the claims, according to the author, relate to a period before the takeover of the Miss France Company by Endemol and then by the Banijay group, and that the organisation could not judge the veracity of the allegations. "Nevertheless, if they were proven, these facts would touch on subjects which concern us all deeply: the safety, dignity and respect of each woman," the statement said.
Some former contestants who have spoken publicly described experiences of harassment at pageants other than Miss France. Ludivine Langlois, who was Miss Nièvre in 2016, told Le Parisien that a volunteer with power in her local competition sent inappropriate text messages, asking, "Are you still a virgin, Ludivine" and commenting on her outfits. Langlois said Guérin's accusations had "brought back buried memories."
Guérin's book does not identify alleged perpetrators by name in media interviews, and at least one former winner has accused him of fabricating quotes. The Miss France Society and multiple former winners have urged that allegations be tested in court rather than presented solely in a published account.
The disclosures have prompted debate in France about the protection of contestants and the culture of beauty pageants, renewing scrutiny of how organisations handle complaints and the channels available to young women who say they were assaulted. The book has drawn media attention and public discussion about whether and how the allegations should be investigated further by authorities or by the organisation itself.