Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais Eve Gilles was crowned Miss France 2024 on Saturday night, succeeding Indira Ampiot (Miss Guadeloupe). Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais was crowned Miss France 2024 on Saturday night December 16th in Dijon, in front of 5,000 fans still believing in the “fairytale” despite accusations of a “sexist” contest, further fueled by a recent legal condemnation for images of candidates filmed topless in 2018.
Hailing from Dunkirk, 20-year-old Eve Gilles made her candidacy a symbol of feminine “diversity.” “No one should dictate who you are,” she declared during the beauty contest, emphasizing her short-cut hair as different from other Miss contestants, typically with long hair.
The new “beauty queen,” succeeding Indira Ampiot – Miss Guadeloupe – was chosen by viewers, accounting for half the score, and by a jury of seven women, accounting for the other half. The young woman was selected after a grand “show,” in the words of 76-year-old host Jean-Pierre Foucault, who has been presenting since 1995.
“It makes me dream! Since I was little, I haven’t missed a single ceremony,” says 22-year-old Emma from Dijon, attending the contest in her city in her glittering dress instead of just watching it on TF1. “Misses have incredible luck. It’s a fairytale,” exclaims her friend Sylvie, 23, fidgeting in her seat in the Zénith’s auditorium. However, the contest comes after a condemnation by the Lille court on Tuesday of the TF1 subsidiary e-TF1 and the Endemol company, which was overseeing the Miss France Society at the time.
The issue was broadcast to nearly eight million viewers of images of two regional Misses filmed topless on December 15, 2018, by a camera installed without their knowledge. Organizers apologized for this “blunder,” but the incident adds to the controversy surrounding the beauty contest, which, despite some reforms, remains highly criticized.
Now a centenarian, Miss France is a symbol of “success,” according to the Miss France Society. “It’s a social elevator,” says its president Alexia Laroche-Joubert, mentioning Misses who have become “businesswomen, doctors, or even directors.” The criteria have also been “modernized,” she claims.
A candidate now has no age limit and can be transgender, married, a mother, or even tattooed. Only one trans candidate has presented herself so far; she failed to be elected Miss Paris in 2022. These small revolutions had shaken the famous hat of Geneviève de Fontenay, a historical figure of the beauty contest. Deceased in August at the age of 90, she will be paid tribute on Saturday night, casting a discreet veil over her stormy relations with the current Miss organization.
