For years she has stayed out of the spotlight and her life has been a closely guarded secret. But now her lover Nigel Farage is deep in the celebrity jungle – and Laure Ferrari is silent no longer. Today, for the first time, she publicly admits to being his long-term girlfriend.
Ms Ferrari, 44, has finally spoken out about their relationship – and agreed to this first, exclusive photograph – while waiting to fly to to be reunited with the bogeyman of the political Left. He has been winning a vast new fanbase on I’m a Celebrity – for a reputed £1.5million fee.
‘I really believe Nigel can win,’ said Ms Ferrari, smiling with pride in figure-revealing trousers, a frilled cream blouse and tall boots. ‘He will be a good campmate. He is extremely tolerant of people’s little ways, and that will gain him support from the public.’
If ‘tolerant’ doesn’t necessarily sound like the Farage we all know (and some love to hate), petite Laure is standing by the man 15 years her senior – even if that means watching as his bare bottom is shown to millions of viewers in the open-sided jungle shower.
‘Nigel has a great bottom, what’s wrong with that?’ asked Ms Ferrari (for after all she would know). ‘If you’ve got it, flaunt it!’
Laure Ferrari (pictured) is silent no longer. Today, for the first time, she publicly admits to being Nigel Farage’s long-term girlfriend
Ms Ferrari, 44, has finally spoken out about their relationship – and agreed to this first, exclusive photograph – while waiting to fly to to be reunited with her partner (pictured in the jungle)
She was more reticent about his spats with fellow contestant, YouTube star Nella Rose, over the rights and wrongs of ‘cultural appropriation’ (including whether or not a non-Mexican should be allowed to wear that country’s national costume).
‘I see it as my duty to support him,’ said Ms Ferrari. ‘When he was invited on to I’m a Celebrity, we talked about it. I saw it as a massive opportunity for him to shine. He was more thoughtful about it. He consulted his family and friends. It was a team effort that got him to appear.’
She and Farage met in Strasbourg in her native France in 2007, when she was working as a waitress. Initially they were just good friends. He was already climbing the slippery pole of international politics, at, at the time, both the leader of the UK Independence Party and an MEP for south-east England.
Yet despite the yawning gap in their ages and roles, Ms Ferrari said yesterday: ‘I was first attracted to Nigel’s values as a man. He has loyalty, empathy and never breaks his promises. I find that very attractive.’
Under a cloak of secrecy, she began working for Farage in the European Parliament before moving into politics herself by running a think tank, the Institute for Direct Democracy in Europe. This had close links to both UKIP and then the Brexit movement.
Farage, 59, later became leader of the Brexit Party and is now president of Reform, as well as presenting his own successful show on anti-woke TV station GB News which has only added to his notoriety.
It is not his first long-term relationship with a woman from the Continent. In 2017 he amicably split from Kirsten Mehr of Hamburg after 18 years of marriage. They have two daughters, Isabelle, 18, and Victoria, 23.
She said they had been living apart for years and by then Farage and Ms Ferrari were an item. Today their home is a £4million Georgian townhouse in one of the finest areas of the capital. Ms Ferrari was outed as his lover when she was spotted putting out the bins at their shared abode, but has rarely been seen since.
Ms Ferrari (pictured) and Farage met in Strasbourg in her native France in 2007, when she was working as a waitress
Laure is standing by the man 15 years her senior – even if that means watching as his bare bottom is shown to millions of viewers in the open-sided jungle shower (pictured)
Ms Ferrari says she saw I’m a Celebrity as a ‘massive opportunity’ for her long-term boyfriend (pictured undertaking a Bushtucker Trial) to shine
Onlookers have occasionally spotted the pair in a chauffeur-driven Range Rover, slipping out from a party, or chatting in a pub.
With rumours rife that Farage might re-enter British politics after his jungle stint – and with a general election expected next year – Ms Ferrari does not entirely dismiss the suggestion that she could one day be the partner of a potential prime minister.
‘That’s not on my bucket list,’ she says modestly, before adding: ‘I would say, however, that what is happening in this country is sad and worrying. There is only one person that can do the job (of leading the country). So if he chose to go into politics again, he would have my support.’
Although Ms Ferrari says she does not ‘do social media’ and does not want ‘to be on the newspaper front pages’, she may have to brace herself for future fame.
Next comes her meeting outside the jungle when Farage leaves, either as a contestant voted out early, or crowned the winner. The final is nine days away. Last night, a poll of some rather unlikely fans – readers of the Labour-backing Daily Mirror – said they were rooting for him.
Ms Ferrari will be unsurprised at this. She, and many other Farage supporters, believe the TV show has not played fair by cutting his air time and editing out a discussion with campmates about the upside of Donald Trump, whom he counts as a friend.
‘There are rumours that some want to make him less popular,’ she says. ‘But I think the show is giving viewers the opportunity to see the Nigel that I, his family and friends, know and love.’