Monday, April 19, 2004 A French beauty queen who abandoned the pageants for a political career with President Jacques Chirac's ruling party has provoked wrath by appearing in a celebrity reality television show only weeks after she was elected to office.

 

Rival politicians have insisted that Elodie Gossuin, 23, a former Miss Europe and Miss France who was elected to a regional council in the northern Picardy region on April 2, should give up her official pay while holed up on a French farm for 10 weeks.

 

Celebrity Farm, which began barely a week after Ms. Gossuin's election, features 14 contestants from sports, the theatre and other fields who try to survive for up to 70 days in a farmhouse with no electricity or running water.

 

Their tasks include milking cows and goats and helping animals give birth. Rivals accused her of shirking her duties, which require regular appearances with the council.