The video, filmed late Sunday, shows the French President preparing to descend from the presidential plane. Brigitte appears to shove him lightly from behind, causing Macron to stumble slightly before regaining composure and waving to the cameras. She remained briefly hidden behind the plane’s fuselage and later declined to take his arm as they walked down the steps together.
By Monday, the video had sparked widespread commentary and online gossip, leading to a response from Macron and the Élysée Palace.
“I was bickering—or rather joking—with my wife,” Macron told reporters in Hanoi. “It’s nothing.”
He also criticized the misuse of videos for misinformation, referencing a previous viral clip from his Ukraine visit where social media users wrongly suggested he was handling a bag of cocaine—something Macron said was actually a tissue.
An Élysée official called the plane incident “a moment of closeness” and said the couple were simply “relaxing and laughing before the start of the trip.”
Who Is Brigitte Macron?
Brigitte Macron, the wife of Emmanuel Macron, has long been a central and steady figure in his personal and political life. The couple’s relationship has drawn intense public scrutiny due to their 25-year age gap and its unconventional origin story.They first met at Le Providence, a Catholic high school in northern France, where Brigitte was a 39-year-old drama teacher and Emmanuel a 15-year-old student. Despite their age difference, the two formed a close bond, staying in touch even after his parents, suspecting he had a crush on Brigitte’s daughter, sent him away to boarding school.
“Emmanuel had to leave for Paris. I told myself he’d fall in love with someone his own age. It didn’t happen,” Brigitte told Paris Match in 2023.
Brigitte was married at the time and prioritized raising her three children—Sébastien, Laurence, and Tiphaine—from her first marriage to banker André-Louis Auzière.
“That lasted 10 years, the time to put them on the rails,” she said. “But I didn’t want to miss out on my life.”
After finalizing her divorce in 2006, she and Emmanuel married in 2007. He became President of France in 2017, at the age of 39.
“Not a Model Couple” – Brigitte on Public Perception
Brigitte has spoken candidly about the challenges of their relationship.
“We are not a model couple. Of course we are not the ideal couple,” she told France’s RTL radio. “Being a couple is complicated; it’s an everyday struggle. When you have a big age difference, it can be even more complicated.”
She also criticized the term “cougar” as reductive and offensive:
“What is this word? It doesn’t describe anything! I’ve always been attracted to men my own age—except Emmanuel, who was the exception.”
She admitted that the relationship was difficult for her children but felt it was a decision she had to make.
“I know I hurt my children. That’s what I reproach myself for the most,” she told Elle magazine in 2017. “But I couldn’t not do it.”
Macron: “She’s My Anchor”
Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly emphasized the importance of his wife in both his emotional well-being and professional life.
“Love is part of my life and my balance,” he told CNN. “You don’t build something great if you’re not balanced and part of a strong couple.”
“She’s part of me. For me, it’s very important for my personal balance to have someone at home telling you the truth every day.”
He described Brigitte as his “anchor” and credited her with keeping him grounded.
The couple reportedly avoid spending nights apart whenever possible.
“It comforts me when Emmanuel is by my side,” Brigitte told Elle. “I wouldn’t want to speak for him, but I’m pretty sure he feels the same.”
Despite the intense public attention, Brigitte dismissed her love life as a simple story. “When I read about us as a couple, I always feel like I’m reading someone else’s story,” she said. “Yet it’s a simple story.”
