Indira Ampiot, an 18-year-old student of communications, was crowned Miss France 2023 on Saturday night after a parade of swimsuits, evening gowns and heels.
She succeeds Diane Leyre. Indira Ampiot, Miss Guadeloupe, was crowned Miss France 2023 on the night of Saturday and Sunday in Chateauroux after a competition which this year widened its selection criteria to modernize an often criticized image.
Her mother was elected first runner-up
Indira Ampiot becomes the new Miss France at just 18 years old. A communication student, her father is a digital manager and her mother works for Social Security.
Miss contests are a family affair for Indira Ampiot. Indeed, her mother also participated in this type of competition when she was a young girl and Indira Ampiot grew up in this universe, between souvenir photos and videos of her mother’s competitions. Something to inspire the little girl.
“Being little and having grown up in the middle of all this, I wanted to participate. It was a dream of a little girl, I was dazzled and a fan of my mother”, she assures the Parisian.
Indira Ampiot’s mother ran for Miss Guadeloupe in 1998, but narrowly failed and finished first runner-up. By winning on Saturday evening, the young woman assumes to accomplish a “certain revenge” for her mother. “Tonight, I wanted to prove that even at 18, you can accomplish great things and believe in your dreams,” she says.
Indira Ampiot, the reigning Miss Guadeloupe, said she was living “a waking dream” after she was given the silver and blue tiara by beauty queen Diane Leyre.
Indira Ampiot wants to fight cancer:
During the contest, Indira Ampiot had championed women with cancer and urged France on at the World Cup, concluding her speech with ‘Allez les Bleus!’
The young student assures, during her presentation during the competition, that she wants to use part of her mandate for a cause with a very personal resonance for the young woman.
“I want to highlight my cause, which is to help women with cancer regain their confidence. It’s a tribute to my grandmother,” she says.
Just after her victory as Miss Guadeloupe, it is to her that Indira Ampiot turns to tell her the good news, despite her fragile health. “When she saw me with the scarf and the crown, she realized and for me, it’s a sign,” she confides.
Once elected Miss France on Saturday evening, Indira Ampiot dedicates her victory to her grandmother, who died this year.
This year’s competition involved fewer eligibility requirements, which had previously restricted entry to women without children between the ages of 18 and 24 who were at least 1.70 metres (5.6 feet) tall.
Now, any woman over 18 years old of any height and child-bearing status can enter. And visible tattoos were allowed for the first time.
Transgender women who have female civil status records were also permitted to compete, according to Alexia Laroche-Joubert, president of the Miss France society.
The pageant still retained the genre hallmarks: talent performances, costume changes, pose striking and plenty of taffeta.
To fit this year’s theme — cinema — contestants tucked into Wonder Woman onesies for one performance and sashayed in blue gowns in front of a ‘Titanic’ backdrop in another.
In the end, the pageant eligibility changes did little to soften some critics’ views, with the French feminist group “Osez le féminisme” calling the modifications “white paint over a mouldy wall”.