France’s glamorous First Lady Carla Bruni has been urged to re-brand herself as a ‘down-to-earth mum who watches reality TV’ ahead of the presidential election in two months time.
The former supermodel’s exotic past and privileged lifestyle risk alienating her from ordinary French voters, president Nicolas Sarkozy’s campaign managers believe.
The 44-year-old – once branded a modern-day Marie-Antoinette – has now given an interview to a downmarket TV listings magazine in which tells how she likes to sit watching prime-time television with her baby daughter.
She told the free supplement TV Magazine: ‘Recently I’ve been watching Plus Belle La Vie with my daughter in my arms.’
The show – meaning A Life More Beautiful – is an early evening soap opera popular with millions of viewers every week.
She also described a reality show set in the farming community called ‘L’Amour est dans le Pre’ as ‘fabulous’.
And she told the magazine she also also enjoyed watching live sport, especially football and cycling.
Bruni was one of the world’s most famous catwalk models in the 1980s and 90s, dating Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Donald Trump before launching a second career as a pop star.
A survey in 2009 found 51 per cent of French people thought Carla was remote and isolated from their daily lives.
Her husband – dubbed President Bling by the French press – was also urged by his own aides to tone down his ‘wide-boy’ image after he was first elected in 2007.
Advice to the head of state at the time included: not wearing his Rolex watch and Ray-Ban sunglasses in public, not picking fights with members of the public and not giving interviews while wearing his jogging shorts.
The latest opinion polls show Sarkozy is trailing heavily behind his socialist rival Francois Hollande in his bid for a second five-year term in office. The election takes over two rounds of voting on April 22 and May 6.