CARLA BRUNI has responded to criticism over her appearance, following the birth of her daughter, Giulia, in October 2011. The model and former French First Lady - who is married to Nicolas Sarkozy - was targeted by the press for wearing tracksuit bottoms and gaining weight during her pregnancy.
"[The press] say, 'She's fat.' They get really nasty. Nothing is out of bounds," Bruni said. "It was a very fragile moment in my life. I'm kind of tall, with good-size shoulders, and when I am 40 pounds overweight, I don't even look fat - I just look ugly. Having children when you're older is not easy."
She admitted that it wasn't easy to juggle the demands of her job as First Lady with motherhood. Following the birth of her daughter, Bruni was required to make a series of public appearances to support Sarkozy's campaign trail in the run-up to France's 2012 election - which was subsequently won by liberal Socialist François Holland.
"I was dead - breast-feeding the little girl, waking up every two hours at night because she was hungry," Bruni told Vanity Fair. "And then during the day following my man, exactly at the time of my life when I would beg not to be photographed. It becomes like a war."
Read more: Style File - Carla Bruni
