Even before the Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais election, at the end of October, this committee which has the hot hand, with four winners at Miss France for ten years – Camille Cerf, Iris Mittenaere, Maëva Coucke and Ève Gilles – already announced a new discovery, a Miss capable of going very far if she won the regional election. We didn't know who but the answer was quickly given with the election of Sabah Aïb, 18 years old, almost insolent in her ease and elegance. But as soon as her victory was achieved, the young woman experienced online harassment for racism.
A month passes. At the end of November, in the plush lounge of the 5-star Sofitel in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), where the thirty candidates prepare for the Miss France election, which will be held on December 14 at the Futuroscope in Poitiers, live on TF1, Sabah Aïb has many other concerns: fatigue in this humid heat where the Misses run from a popular market to a photo shoot, and all these little traps to avoid for a Miss less than four weeks from show: learning to parade, surviving a broken high heel, public speaking.
The one who is one of the youngest in the competition analyzed these reactions with a certain distance: “It gave me a lot of visibility. There were only 10% bad comments, but that's all we talked about. » After a moment of reflection, she shares her astonishment: “My parents and my grandparents were born in France. I have never had the slightest racist remark in my life, until this election. I didn't expect that. I wasn't prepared for it. I've taken a step back, but words have an impact. I remain focused on Miss France, I sort things out. »
No candidate of North African origin has ever been crowned Miss France. The story would be beautiful, it was Geneviève de Fontenay's dream. The law student, accustomed to the spotlight in modeling, burst into tears during her coronation on October 20, 2024 by Ève Gilles. Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais would be delighted to give her back her second crown this December 14, that of Miss France. And to replay the scene, from Liévin to Futuroscope.
