Valérie Bègue (born 26 September 1985) is a French reality television personality and beauty pageant titleholder who won

Miss France 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 ...

2008, representing

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

island, an overseas department of France located in the Indian Ocean. Bègue is the first Miss France from Réunion island since Monique Uldaric, who was elected in 1976.

Miss France controversy

Two weeks after she was crowned Miss France, pictures of Bègue taken before her election, fully clothed but in suggestive poses on rather tame pictures, were released by French tabloid "Entrevue". The President of the Miss France contest,

Geneviève de Fontenay Geneviève Suzanne Marie-Thérèse Mulmann (30 August 1932 – 1 August 2023), known professionally as Geneviève de Fontenay (), was a French businesswoman who served as the president of the Miss France, Miss France Committee from 1981 until 200 ...

, went on French radio to insist that Valérie Bègue should step down and return her crown, or that she would be forcibly disqualified. Fontenay told reporters that if Endemol, the production company which owns the Miss France contest, disagreed with her decision, she would stand down as president. On a previous occasion, Fontenay had obtained the temporary suspension of Miss France 2004, Lætitia Bléger, for much more suggestive pictures published in the French edition of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine, as a Miss France winner is contractually obligated not to pose for controversial pictures for five years after winning the title and an entrant in the Miss France contest must state that she has never posed for nude or partially nude pictures beforehand. Valérie Bègue took some time to reflect on her decision, and finally decided that she would not stand down voluntarily, explaining that the set of pictures in question were test shots and that she had not authorized their publication. Fontenay was accused of racism and of not wanting a non-French Miss France, after she said that Bègue should stay in Réunion. A public apology was then demanded by people from the island, including a member of the ruling

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

. On 28 December 2007, Fontenay announced that Bègue would be allowed to remain as Miss France 2008, as long as she did not take part in any international contests. Fontenay said she had based this position on the fact that the general public, who had helped to choose Bègue as Miss France, had no idea these pictures existed, and that their existence barred Bègue from international competitions, arguing that she did not want such pictures to give a false image of France. Bègue's first runner-up was Vahinerii Requillart, who represented the island of

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

, another overseas territory of France, which is located in the Pacific Ocean. As a result, the top two finalists of the 2008 Miss France pageant originated from overseas departments of France.

Other work

Valérie Bègue is involved in programmes against breast cancer and

genetic diseases A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosome abnormality. Although polygenic disorders are ...

. In 2011, Valérie Bègue was a contestant on the second season of ''

Danse avec les stars ''Danse avec les stars'' (''DALS''; ) is the French version of the British reality TV competition ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and is part of the ''Dancing with the Stars'' franchise. The show was first broadcast on TF1 on 12 February 2011, the parti ...

'' – the French version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. She was partnered with professional dancer Grégory Guichard. On October 22, 2011, they were eliminated finishing 7th out of 9 contestants.

Personal life

Bègue was married to

Camille Lacourt Camille Lacourt (; born 22 April 1985) is a retired French competitive swimming (sport), swimmer and backstroke specialist. He won the 50 metre backstroke at three consecutive FINA World Aquatics Championships, world championships (2013 World Aq ...

, a French Olympic swimmer, in August 2008. She has a daughter. Lacourt and Bègue divorced in 2016.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Begue, Valerie 1985 births Living people Beauty pageant winners from Réunion Miss France winners Participants in French reality television series