Sylvie Tellier

Sylvie Tellier won Miss Lyon 2001 and then Miss France 2002 [6]. She was crowned on 8 December 2001 [5]. Later she ran the company that organises the contest, and she still comments on the pageant in interviews [2].

Birth and the year in dispute

Sources place her birth in Nantes [6] [4]. Purepeople says she grew up in Les Sables-d'Olonne in Vendée and moved to Lyon in the late 1980s to study law [5]. They do not agree on the year. LyonMag gives 28 May 1978 [6], while Ozap's profile gives 28 May 1979 [4]. Purepeople gives both years on one page: its biography text says 1978, and its profile box says 1979 [5]. This page does not choose between them.

Running the Miss France company

In January 2007 she was appointed directrice générale of the Société Miss France [5]. Purepeople describes that mandate as 17 years, ending in 2022 [5]. Those two dates give about 15 years, and the sources do not reconcile them. LyonMag also describes her as a former managing director of Miss Europe Organisation [6].

Her departure was announced in a statement, and the Ozap report is dated 31 August 2022. It described her as leaving after 17 years at the head of the organisation [1]. The same report said she would co-present the Miss France 2023 ceremony on TF1 in December, and that she would then become honorary president of the company [1]. Her successor, Cindy Fabre, was due to make her first prime-time appearance in December 2023 [1].

Ordre national du Mérite and Les Bonnes fées

On 26 June 2023 she was made a chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite in the gardens of the Hôtel de Matignon in Paris [7]. The state cited her daily involvement in the not-for-profit sector [7]. She co-founded Les Bonnes fées with several former Miss France winners [7].

Books and television

Her most recent book, Couronne et préjugés, was published in 2024 [5]. The publisher was Éditions Fayard [8]. Sud Radio describes it as a look behind the scenes of Miss France, with unreleased anecdotes and personal confidences, and says it aims to challenge stereotypes [8]. On 20 May 2024 she was announced as one of five new celebrities for the third season of Les Traîtres, a game show presented by Eric Antoine [9].

The 2025 Miss France row

On 9 December 2025 she spoke on RTL's Les Grosses Têtes about a row among Miss France candidates [2]. She called the behaviour disrespectful: "C'est irrespectueux" [2]. She said she had not reacted publicly because "je ne fais plus partie de l'organisation Miss France" (I am no longer part of the Miss France organisation). For the same reason, she was not consulted when two candidates lost their titles [2]. Her view was harsher: "Avec moi, elles seraient rentrées chez elle" (With me, they would have gone home) [2].

Comments on the Patrick Bruel affair

On 4 September 2026 Paris Match Belgium reported comments she made on Le Figaro's Buzz TV about the affair involving Patrick Bruel [3]. She argued for the presumption of innocence: "On a souvent une présomption de culpabilité aujourd'hui avec les réseaux sociaux" (Today there is often a presumption of guilt because of social networks) [3]. She also said that, as president of Miss France, she had never observed the slightest negative behaviour [3].