Carla Bruni wants ‘everybody to love me’ after affair rumours

French First Lady Carla Bruni has made an impassioned plea for "everybody to love me" after devastating criticism following rumours of an extra-marital affair.

Nine days after being pictured looking the worse for wear as she voted in regional elections with her husband, President Nicolas Sarkozy, Miss Bruni, 42, appears in a highly controlled video posted on the internet.

In it the supermodel turned pop singer, says: "I want everybody to love me, I'm like all humans."

Referring to what appears in the media, Miss Bruni says: "I don't pay much attention to it, perhaps because it would affect me too much."

Light and make-up have clearly been strictly monitored in the video to make sure that there are no signs of the lines and blotches seen in the unauthorised photos.

Rumours have been rife in France and on the internet that Miss Bruni has been seeing French singer Benjamin Biolay — six years her junior — even going on holiday to Thailand with him.

And it has been suggested that Mr Sarkozy has been seeking comfort with his ecology minister Chantal Jouanno, 40, a karate expert.