“I was a misunderstood first lady”, laments Valérie Trierweiler in the first episode of Beijing Express, shock duos launched this Wednesday at 9:10 p.m. on M6. Did François Hollande’s ex-girlfriend take part in this edition of the game, alongside other personalities (see box), to finally be understood by the public?
“There was no strategy on my part, immediately replies the person concerned during the press conference. I have refused, in the past, to do several reality shows. Beijing Express is a show that I love, that I watch. The idea was to share this adventure with my best friend. »
“Maybe I will pave the way for Brigitte Macron”
It is therefore in tandem with Karine, whom she has known for twenty years because their children were enrolled in the same primary school, that the journalist traveled the roads of Sri Lanka at the start of the year. “She was the ideal partner for me because she is the ideal friend. If she had said no, I don’t know if I would have done it,” adds Valérie Trierweiler.
If the show does not miss an opportunity to remember that she is a former “first lady”, she refuses to be locked into this role. ” It’s true [que je l’ai été] but it is twenty months of my life. I’m 57, I’ll let you do the math… For me, that’s not the essence of my existence. My life is my child, my job, my friends,” she says. And to follow with a pirouette: “Maybe I will pave the way and that Brigitte Macron will participate in the next edition. »
“Very quickly, she wanted to evacuate the first lady side, confirms the host Stéphane Rotenberg. She has a competitive instinct pegged to the body and then, in Beijing Expressyou have to abandon the will to be to your advantage: you are with your backpack, shaggy, sweaty…”
“In the end, we don’t even wash our hair anymore”
This lack of control over the image did not bother the candidate: “The first day, we have our hair done and make up. On the second day, we put on a little lipstick. The third day, it’s over and, at the end, we don’t even wash our hair anymore, ”she summarizes with a smile on her lips.
If jumping into the unknown with a simple backpack was a new experience for Valérie Trierweiler, this is not the first time she has embarked on an adventure. “I did a lot of sporting raids with Karine. The first time was in 2014, so shortly after my departure from the Elysée. A girl came to see me saying: “It’s brave to come and put you in misery like that in front of everyone”. “Misunderstood, always. Because she insists: “I am not different from you. I do my shopping, my housework…”