Carla Bruni’s ex-lover joins Nicolas Sarkozy’s ‘kitchen cabinet’

October 11th, 2009 LONDON - A senator in French president Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right party believes that his wife Carla Bruni is defending the gay minister with a past as a "sex tourist" in Thailand. Openly gay Frédéric Mitterrand, the nephew of the late President Mitterrand, is presently struggling to save his name amid the storm over his past accounts of paying "boys" for sex, reports The Times.

October 7th, 2009 LONDON - Ministers in the Nicolas Sarkozy Government are increasingly falling prey to the "Carla Bruni effect", which even inspired the French President to shed pounds. Under the influence of his supermodel-turned-singer wife, Sarkozy, 54, has been following a gruelling self-improvement regime, and is said to have lost 15 pounds.

September 24th, 2009 NEW YORK - French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was the epitome of style and grace when she was recently spotted in the Big Apple wearing a black number. The ex-supermodel was dressed to the nines as she exited a New York City apartment building on Tuesday.

September 20th, 2009 LONDON - Bestselling author Justine Lévy has penned her memories about the time her husband left her for Carla Bruni, as part of her new book 'Bad Girl'. The daughter of French philosopher and intellectual, Bernard-Henri Lévy, recalled "the really bad time of my life" when her husband of four years Raphaël Enthoven eloped with Bruni.

August 12th, 2009 LONDON - France's First Lady Carla Bruni was recently spotted going for a swim wearing a teeny tiny black bikini and a pair of flippers. Bruni, 41, whose sensational figure has been honed by regular sessions with personal trainer Julie Imperiali, was snapped with French president Nicolas Sarkozy in the South of France.

August 3rd, 2009 LONDON - French President Nicolas Sarkozy seems to have put the health scare behind, for he enjoyed a refreshing dip with wife Carla Bruni in the Mediterranean. The 54-year-old politician had sparked health fears a week ago, when he collapsed while he was out jogging.

August 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Carla Bruni has apparently been inspiring her husband President Nicolas Sarkozy with a relentless self-improvement campaign. The French President was said to have given up chocolate, pastries and ice cream and often reportedly relied on mealtimes with a plate of fruit and cottage cheese under the former supermodel's alleged influence, reports The Times.

July 20th, 2009 LONDON - French First Lady Carla Bruni's rendition of a Bob Dylan classic at Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday bash turned out to be a flop show, as music fans likened her voice to the sounds of a "dying cat". The supermodel-turned-singer crooned 'Blowin' In The Wind' at Radio City in New York on Saturday, as part of a star-studded concert to mark Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday.

July 10th, 2009 LONDON - Love-struck French President Nicolas Sarkozy has named his new 50 million pounds jet "Carla", in honour of his third wife Carla Bruni. Last year, Sarkozy had ordered 240 million pounds worth of planes, including an Airbus designed to be bigger than any flown by other European leaders, and two corporate run-arounds for shorter trips.

May 20th, 2009 LONDON - French First Lady Carla Bruni left hubby Nicolas Sarkozy red faced when she groped his backside during a press conference. The former model and singer was being filmed in the Elysee Palace for a magazine when the President walked in, reports the Mirror.

May 19th, 2009 LONDON - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has cancelled plans of buying a "love nest" in Paris, because wife Carla Bruni's ex-flame Mick Jagger has a penthouse in the same building, it has emerged. It was being reported that the 41-year-old supermodel was "very keen" on buying the 10-million pound flat in Paris, however, hubby Sarkozy was "uncomfortable" regarding the proximity to the Rolling Stones singer.

May 14th, 2009 LONDON - Mick Jagger may soon have a new neighbour in his luxurious Paris pad: ex-lover Carla Bruni along with Nicolas Sarkozy. It has been reported that the French President and wife are poised to buy a 3.5million pound "love nest" in Paris.

April 29th, 2009 LONDON - French police were said to be looking for burglars who had broken into a Paris apartment and stolen hundreds of "highly intimate" pictures and video of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. The photographs, taken during the ex-model's romance with philosopher Raphael Enthoven, had been entrusted with Enthoven's brother, the owner of the apartment, to keep them at bay from any possible embarrassment to the First Lady and her President hubby Nicolas Sarkozy, as per reports.

April 28th, 2009 LONDON - The First Lady of France Carla Bruni was seen alongside someone who looked exactly like her, Princess Letizia of Spain. Both wore figure-hugging dresses, and high heels and their matching stature made them look like they were sisters, reports The Daily Express.

April 26th, 2009 LONDON - Life inside the Elysée Palace is so high on drama that it can make an excellent soap opera. And, the latest episode in the Sarkozy-saga involves Rachida Dati, the controversial Justice Minister, her baby and the fury of France's glamorous first lady Carla Bruni.