Miss France

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]

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 30 regional pageants currently send contestants to Miss France:

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]

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]

Year	Miss France	Region	Age[a]	Hometown	Notes
2024	Eve 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

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

Number	Region	Years
16	Île-de-France	1933 1934 1935 1939 1948 1949 1950 1955 1963 1970 1972[b] 1978[c] 1983[d] 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[d] 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[e] 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[f] 2000 2013
	Languedoc	1929 1971 2006
	Lorraine	1973 1975 1998
	Pays de la Loire	1964[f] 1992 1994
	Poitou-Charentes	1959 1972[b] 1977
2	Réunion	1976 2008
	Franche-Comté	1927 1980[e]
1	French Guiana	2017
	Centre-Val de Loire	2014
	Midi-Pyrénées	2009
	Provence	1979
	New Caledonia	1978[c]
	Morocco[g]	1956
	Roussillon	1938
	Saar[h]	1935
	Corsica	1921

• 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)

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