Society. “A #MeToo Miss France”: rape, sexual assault... A book reveals the dark side of the competition

He is an expert on the Miss France competition, which makes several million viewers dream every year , and for good reason: Hubert Guérin was the last collaborator of Geneviève de Fontenay , with whom he worked for 11 years. "Deeply attached to the competition", he decided, in 2020, to begin writing a book with the "lady in the hat" on the occasion of the centenary of the beauty contest , to retrace the history of this event. He will therefore meet many people working to organize this competition but above all, the 60 Miss France still alive.

The writing of this book, Miss France, from dream to reality , which will be published on September 8, will take another turn when the beauty queens will confide in us about this year which has turned their daily lives upside down and about the dark side of this competition. Isolation, frenetic pace, harassment, cyberbullying, complicated professional rebound, depression… “I am discovering a hidden side that I did not dare to imagine. It is a machine for crushing the candidates, they are shattered by the competition and they are sent back into society without protection,” he confides. “I arrived at Miss France alive, I came out of my year dead,” one of them even confided to him.

In this investigation led by Hubert Guérin, several former Miss France and regional elected officials admitted to having been victims of sexual violence "during the competition, under the direction of the Miss France organization." "These are stories that repeat themselves, always the same pattern," he says.

The victims chose to remain anonymous, but gave chilling accounts to the former collaborator of the "lady in the hat." "I, Miss France, was raped during my year," one of them confessed. "Elected Miss France, I was raped a few hours later: in my room, I was pushed against the bed, called names, and my dress was torn off," another testified. "The day after my crowning, I was forced to perform oral sex," a third denounced. "He went through all the rooms, placed himself between the candidates to take a photo, and put a hand on each buttock," revealed a fourth. Some also spoke of photo shoots during which they were groped on their breasts.

According to the author, several sexual assaults took place during preparation trips abroad, up until the evening of the election, mainly between 1990 and 2002. He specifies that less than 10% of Miss France contestants were affected, but that a significant number of local or regional candidates testified to assaults, ranging from dick pics (penis photos) received on social networks to a "hand on the buttocks", or even much more serious incidents.

Hubert Guérin claims that Geneviève de Fontenay was unaware and "always did everything to protect the candidates" in a very male-dominated environment. As for Sylvie Tellier, she also claims to have "never been aware of the facts reported." The author acknowledges that the latter introduced decisive reforms upon her arrival at the Miss France company in 2005: "She introduced chaperones, banned backstage visits, and replaced most of the male supervisors with women." These measures, he claims, have "greatly" reduced the risk of assault.

Facts that have never yet been reported. Geneviève de Fontenay's former collaborator speaks of an "omerta" comparable to that of the Church. The candidates, he explains, did not dare to report the facts for fear of being eliminated, of ruining their year of reign, or of not being believed. "Some told me: 'Behind us, we have a family and a region.' They don't want to disappoint," he reports. The events took place at a time when women speaking out about sexual assault was still taboo. At that time, filing a complaint seemed impossible. "During the year of the reign, it was inconceivable. Then there was the post-Miss France period, when these women were trying to build a stable professional life. They didn't necessarily want to be associated with these actions." And then filing a complaint also meant delving back into their painful history,” he sums up.

They preferred to remain silent and say nothing, not even to Geneviève de Fontenay. "We wanted to make her proud, not make ourselves look like poor victims. She was the one who fought so hard to be respected in society," admits one of them. "This suffering is inaudible to the general public, because we sell a dream so much that we can't say that we suffered during that year," acknowledges Hubert Guérin. For the author, this book should allow victims to break the silence: "The goal is to provoke a #MeToo for Miss France. To say: you are not alone, speak out, reveal, tell what happened" and to remind people that, behind the sequins, sashes, and crowns, "there are complicated women's journeys, stories of resilience."

The author attempted to meet with Frédéric Gilbert, the current head of the Miss France pageant, to discuss these revelations, but his request went unanswered. He was threatened with legal action and faced silence from some of the pageant's stakeholders. "Regional delegates and some Miss France contestants were even ordered not to speak to me," he says. Yet he persists. "Bringing these types of facts to the public's attention helps society move forward."

Miss France, from dream to reality , by Hubert Guérin, published by Vérone éditions, 27 euros, to be published on September 8.