The sparkling Elodie Gossuin grew up under the spotlight, since her coronation in Miss France in 2001. But she has always remained simple and favored her family life. The 44 -year -old host confided in the “Journal des Femmes” on her role as mother, the sexism she was the victim and the way she experiences her celebrity …
Elodie Gossuin, who recently went to Cambodia on a humanitarian mission for UNICEF, confided in the Women’s Journal On the way she manages her daily notoriety, her life as a mother and her ambitions for the future.
You are quite active on social networks. There are necessarily negative comments, how do you manage them?
Elodie Gossuin: I started posting on my trip to Cambodia and, even on that, there are negative reactions. But I try to always see the positive, I am optimistic in nature. It remains complicated because I do a job anyway very egocentric and sometimes, I have the impression that it would be better to be silent and just look at others. But I don’t want to become the one who criticizes on her sofa. It does not matter, I prefer to be the one that is criticized.
You started as Miss France and you faced sexism, or even humiliation (Donald Trump suspected it of being a man during his participation in Miss Universe, editor’s note), do you feel that the eyes have changed today?
Fortunately, this has evolved a lot in society. I also have my own vision, which is no longer that of an 18 -year -old child, but who is that of an active woman of 44 years with 4 children. So necessarily, sexism is never acceptable, but today looks and judgments are no longer the same. As if I had finally deserved a little respect! I have long been taken for a gourd when I started … And today, the sorority is very beautiful, I am surrounded by super girls and I am too proud of it! I love admiring women around me.
You have always managed to combine your career and your role as a mother (she is a mother of two pairs of twins, Jules and Rose, 17, and Léonard and Joséphine, 8, editor’s note)…
Before, I felt this judgment of being an active mother. Today, we know that being a good mother does not necessarily mean that this is our first job! I grew up with a very hardworking mother. But I did not suffer, on the contrary! It has always been part of my education to have this value of courage. I have always been very admiring my mother, who worked full time with three kids: she fought even more than me, since at the time, she was even more on the sidelines of society.
How did your children experience your notoriety?
This can be striking because when we are a public person and our children are with us in a public setting, they are on display. And when they realize that their mother is requested by fans or photographers, there may be this impression of losing his mother. Growing up, my children have accompanied me more and more for events, but they managed to do things. Little, they asked me, ‘Why do people smile at you and come and ask you about photos? We don’t know them! ‘. I replied that they knew me a little through my job and that it was part of the game. If I did not want to respond to these requests, I would have had to do something else. I do not understand that one is a public figure and that one is unpleasant with people. And I explained to my children that, for me, it was a great reward, a recognition of my work.
Are they aware of the fact that you were Miss France before their birth?
I had to explain to them that it all started with Miss France. They said to me: ‘But? Wasn’t that in the Middle Ages? ‘ (laughs). Since they were born, they have known me so there was no breakup and they grew up in awareness that my job was rather atypical. Growing up, they understood that it was a real chance. They know that they can have privileges, such as going to a preview of a film they dreamed of seeing, discovering behind the scenes of a shoot, or to follow a mission for UNICEF. They are aware that all this offers us a comfort of life … and at the same time, they see me having fun at work!
Are they inspired by your career?
Yes, but it can also put pressure on them. The big ones are in the final year and they say that there is little chance that they manage to flourish as much in their job. But I try to make them understand that it is not just the business school or the school of law in life! I tell them that they must remove the blinders that they have been put. I have no particular expectations with a status or a lifestyle, I just want them to smile every day.
Is there something that you have not yet accomplished and that makes you dream?
I have always loved the radio, the proximity to the people and the freedom it provides. I would like, one day, hosting a proximity show on television!
