Laury Thilleman: “I have a hard time saying no, and it cost me dearly”

Miss France 2011 has come a long way since her election. Laury Thilleman, originally from Brittany, quickly swapped the scarf for the microphone, becoming a presenter for Eurosport then for France Télévisions. Last Saturday, she once again presented the Fête de la Musique alongside Garou on France 2. A few days before, we met her at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.

Pour lematin.chLaury Thilleman, 32, returned in particular to her beginnings in front of the camera, the burn-out she had in 2022, just after her divorce from chef Juan Arbelaez, but also on her outlet which is surfing.

When you entered the Miss France competition in 2010, what were your dreams?

I was enrolled against my will. Even though I felt like it was going to happen. But I didn’t dream of victory. I took the plane for the first time and for me it was already great. I was only 19, and it was really spontaneous, authentic and not calculated at all.

What were your plans at 19?

I was in business school, I was with my mom and dad and the goal was to get my master’s degree. Nothing else mattered. But I still finished the master’s degree afterwards!

At the end of your reign as Miss, you quickly became a host. Do you remember your first presentation?

Yes, it was at the edge of the pools (editor’s note: in 2012 in Dunkirk), I was a journalist for Eurosport and, on the eve of the Olympic Games, France had a lot of chances of medals in swimming. I was very intimidated around these big torsos that were Alain Bernard and Camille Lacourt, there was also Laure Manaudou. They were athletes that I was used to seeing and encouraging as a supporter and sports lover. And then I passed this switch.

Did you realize you were made for this?

I never tell myself that I’m made for this. If you’re too sure of yourself, the magic doesn’t work anymore.

This was followed by a period where you were in great demand. How did you experience it?

I have a hard time saying no, and it cost me dearly, not long ago: my body and mind gave out. Now, I am learning to say no more. I was able to let myself be easily nibbled away to please a lot of people and I paid the consequences.

And what helps you in those moments is surfing.

Yes, my valve and my outlet is the ocean, it’s surfing. It allows me to re-energize myself and also cleanse myself of all this media chaos where it’s sometimes hard to get your head above water. Surfing is my magic wand, which resets all the counters to zero.

You launched a podcast in 2021 called “How do you do it?”, what do you talk about in it?

Flaws that we all go through, our vulnerability that we often sweep under the carpet. However, I think that to welcome moments of happiness and joy in life, we must also welcome emotions that we generally call negative, such as anger, sadness. I address all these flaws that are legitimate to better know ourselves and be in tune with ourselves.

The arrival of the Olympic flame in Paris. I had already presented the show that took place in Marseille on May 8th. And I carried it to my city, Brest, in Brittany, on June 7th. With a lot of emotion of course. The rest is not yet completely constructed and tied up. I can’t tell you more, but we have great projects with France TV. The start of the school year will be busy.