In the French beauty pageant, the oldest winner in history has emerged.
According to AFP and other sources, Angelique Angarny-Philopon won the finals of the ‘2025 Miss France’ pageant held on the 14th (local time). Coming from Martinique, a French Caribbean territory, Angarny-Philopon, at the age of 34, seized the title of the ‘oldest winner’ in the competition’s history.
Miss France, which until 2022 restricted participants to ages 18 to 24, abolished this rule, allowing a total of 30 contestants aged 18 to 34 to participate this year.
In a statement, Angarny-Philopon expressed, “In 2011, a 20-year-old young woman was the runner-up at the Miss Martinique competition. At 34, that woman stands before you today, representing all the women who were once told ‘it’s too late.'”
She further added, “This victory is not only a personal achievement but also represents all the women from our region.”
Beauty pageants have long been criticized for imposing standardized beauty norms. In response, the organizers of ‘Miss France’ have removed criteria such as ‘under 24 years old,’ ‘unmarried,’ and ‘childless.’ However, last year, there was another round of debate when a contestant with short hair won for the first time in the pageant’s history.