Angélique Angarni-Filopon (Miss France 2025): “People are constantly reminded of my age… I think I am well preserved!”

Wonderful Angelique! The day before, in front of 8.4 million viewers and under the emotional gaze of her parents, Viviane and Jean-Pierre, she was elected Miss France 2025, immediately making an impression. Not only because at 1.83 meters tall, she is with Flora Coquerel the tallest winner in the history of the competition. Angélique Angarni-Filopon (the joined names of her father and mother) is both the first Miss Martinique to win the supreme title and the first thirty-year-old, to the benefit of the modification of the regulations which occurred two years ago. Everyone wants to see her, talk to her. The night at Futuroscope, where the show took place, was short. An intense day awaits him in Paris, from the 13 Hours of TF1 at the photo shoot for Galain the suite of a large hotel. But in the TGV which takes her at three hundred miles an hour towards her new life, the newly crowned Queen of France already knows how to manage her fatigue. Accustomed, through her job as a flight attendant, to express recoveries in all circumstances. Prepared, too, for this national destiny that she already dreamed of in 2011, when she finished first runner-up to Miss Martinique, narrowly missing the appointment of her life. In a white sequined dress and matching bolero, perched on high-heeled sandals, she is a woman dazzling with beauty and maturity who lends herself to the interview game. Her story, she hopes, will give strength to millions of others who dream of somewhere else without daring to take the plunge.

GALA: Who did you think of when Sylvie Vartan, president of the jury, declared “Miss France 2025 is and will remain Miss Martinique”?
ANGELIC ANGARNI-FILOPON: To me, first. Then to my parents, who were in the room. They were, during all the choreographies, on the side where I was parading. I saw them, it gave me strength. To have led them into this world of Misses, me who was not always the most beautiful, it is a great pride.

GALA: You were extremely moved when they joined you on stage. What did they tell you?
A. A.-F. : That they were very proud. I don't know what else I heard. I think my brain went into total blackout. I read a lot of things in their eyes. In the family we are used to not talking much, we prefer to give ourselves proof.

GALA: You are the first Miss France elected at 34 and everyone is talking about it. Like Eve Gilles, who was “the Miss with short hair”, are you not afraid of being reduced to “the oldest Miss”?
A. A.-F. : Absolutely. People are constantly reminded of my age… I think I'm well preserved! [Rires.] He's young, 34 years old. Only five years ago, I was in my twenties. Ten years ago, I cut my hair but I don't want to be characterized in terms of that, nor in terms of my age, because both don't define me. I know we tend to focus on the image we see on TV but I am more than age, more than short hair. I have great energy and I can't wait to show it to you.

GALA: You had already tried your luck at Miss Martinique in 2011 by dreaming of Miss France, then collecting a first runner-up sash. You were 21 years old. Should we simply wait for the right alignment of planets?
A. A.-F. : Yes. When this is the case, destiny is there. For me, it's now. I feel clearly more mature than at the time, in my eloquence, in my presence. I had the time to cultivate myself and meet people, particularly through my professional life. And, at 20, I was more explosive. Time has calmed me.

GALA: Let’s get to know each other better. You were born in Sartrouville on October 9, 1990…
A. A.-F. : I confirm. And I grew up in the mainland in Vauréal, in Val-d'Oise, spending four to five months a year in the Antilles. Two years ago, I decided to leave everything to live there.

“At 20, I was more explosive. Time has soothed me”

GALA: What do your parents do?
A. A.-F. : My father was a sergeant in the police, my mother a hospital nurse. They are both retired now. I have an older sister and an older brother, whose name and profession I prefer to keep quiet, in order to protect them. And I have a little brother, who lives with my father in Martinique [ses parents se sont séparés quand elle avait 12 ans, ndlr]. I am also an aunt six times… and very very family

GALA: What was your childhood like in Vauréal?
A. A.-F. : It was a quiet life, in a suburban area, with the Jouy-le-Moutier woods to go cycling or running with dad. I owe him a lot. He is a man with great eloquence. He was elected locally and still trains police officers. At home, we had very few video games and a lot of books. It developed in me a love of reading. My father is also very curious, he would sometimes point us on a map so that we could go on a weekend in a region chosen at random. In Cantal, in the North, in the South… It was almost a taste of the life of Miss France!

GALA: You also pay tribute to your mother who was, you say, your “mentor”. For what ?
A. A.-F. : Because I learned a lot from her. She is a strong, resilient woman, who has always been very composed, calm and silent. She experienced a lot of struggles in silence.

GALA: In your speech during the election, you mentioned her fight against breast cancer. Did this ordeal make you all “grow up” in the family?
A. A.-F. : We were already very mature, it just gave us a little extra slap in the face, a reminder of the order of life, not very pleasant: everything is fragile, nothing can be taken for granted. My mom is fine today.

GALA: You said you weren't always the most beautiful. Was your tallness a problem as a teenager?
A. A.-F. : For the record, I was very small until CM2, I was 1.47 m tall and I had buck teeth, they called me “my little pony”! Then, in 6th grade, I gained 30 cm in one year, suddenly reaching 1.77 m! So yes, it's not easy at that age to break away from the norm. There is teasing that can turn into hurt. But in my case, nothing serious, it never went as far as harassment. These mockeries rather forged my character.

GALA: Speaking of character, what are your qualities and your faults?
A. A.-F. : I am spontaneous, natural and funny. And, on the downside, I'm stubborn and manic.

“I was very small until CM2 then, in 6th grade, I gained 30 cm in one year”

GALA: The regulations now allow Miss France to be thirty years old but also to be in a relationship. Is this your case?
A. A.-F. : I won't tell you. I prefer to keep a little mystery around it…

GALA: A few minutes after your coronation, you were already talking in the past tense about the job of air hostess that you had been doing for two years…
A. A.-F. : It's a job that I love, a great step in my life. But it's true that, as someone who has always controlled everything, I want to let go and go where the wind takes me. Miss France will bring me opportunities, I am not closed to anything.

GALA: In your wildest dreams, where could this new page be written? AA-F. : At the cinema. I love cinema. I'm a fan of Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington and, among the French, Marion Cotillard. Or on television, as a presenter. Everything related to voice also interests me: doing a radio show, dubbing…

GALA: On election night, you made an impression – and perhaps even won the day – by addressing “all those who were told it was too late”. What message would you like to send to our readers?
A. A.-F. : A message of hope. I would like to give them courage, a boost. Since I won the Miss Martinique sash, you would be surprised to see the number of messages I receive from women who want to change their career, their life, but actually think it is too late. I want to be the spokesperson for all these women – and all these men too – who have incredible projects and energy. No, it's never too late, and I'm proof!

This article could be found in Gala N°1645, available on newsstands on December 19. To follow the news live, you can join Gala's WhatsApp thread . The new issue of Gala is on newsstands from this Thursday, December 26, 2024. Enjoy reading.