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From Spotlight to Struggle: The Downward Spiral
Victoire’s modelling career took off when she was scouted on the street by a member of the renowned Elite agency—a golden ticket just about every aspiring model dreams of. Within weeks, she found herself swept up in a life completely devoted to photo shoots and runway shows. But behind the scenes, she was falling into an ever-tightening trap. The pressure pushed her into a downward spiral, culminating in a suicide attempt that nearly cost her her life.
The Apple-Only Diet: An Unforgiving Routine
In 2016, Victoire published her searingly honest and raw account in her book, “Jamais Trop Maigre. Journal d’un Top Model” (Never Too Skinny. Diary of a Top Model). In it, she exposes the harsh reality behind the runway: her daily diet was three apples. That’s it—three apples, and just once a week, some fish or chicken. In order to squeeze into a size 0-2 (that’s roughly US 0-2, or UK 4-6), she inflicted this “regime” on herself, losing about 22 pounds (10 kilograms) in just two months.
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“The thinner I got, the fatter I felt,” she stated. The consequences? Anorexia, emotional distress, chronic anxiety… “My anxiety was expressed through food, and I imposed the three-apple rule on myself, telling myself I’d go back to a normal diet later. But a voice in my head kept stopping me, and I was always afraid I wouldn’t fit into the clothes anymore,” she told Vanity Fair.
Standing at 1.78 meters (about 5’10”), her weight plummeted to under 104 pounds (47 kilograms). Far from the glamorous image of the catwalk, Victoire describes how her body became skeletal—a “coat hanger,” as she recalls. One day, her mother caught sight of her naked in the bathroom and was so frightened by her daughter’s emaciated appearance that she immediately brought her a roast chicken, which Victoire devoured in one go. She recounted this moment on the French TV program “Sept à Huit.”
Shattered Self-Worth and the Vicious Circle of Anorexia
Her modelling experiences forever altered how she viewed her body:
“People wanted me, yes, but skinny. I was beautiful because I was skinny. That was my only worth,” she shared. “Anorexia is a vicious circle. And the irony is that even though they kept asking me to lose weight, most of my photos were retouched. They’d add thighs, cheeks.”
After walking away from her modelling career, Victoire fell into bulimia and then depression, leading to another suicide attempt and a stay in a psychiatric clinic. The aftermath of fashion’s demands is brutal—it left deep scars not only physically, but mentally and emotionally too.
Recovery, Reinvention, and Advocacy
Since then, Victoire has managed to recover and has remade her life. She resumed her studies in London, where she worked at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
“Seeing people on stage made me want to do it myself. Then I went through acting conservatory and it was therapeutic. I reconnected my body and my mind,”
she told Vanity Fair. Today, she stars as Vanessa, head chef at The Spoon, in “Demain nous appartient”, a daily drama aired on French network TF1.
She’s currently working on adapting her book into a film, collaborating with the producers of the series “Vikings”—where she played the character Nissa in Season 6.
“I’m co-producing this project, and I’ll play a supporting role, but not my own,”
she told the magazine Télé 7 Jours.
She also continues to campaign alongside various organizations, including the association Imhotep and Les Ateliers Mercure, a think tank dedicated to developing new health policies.
Today, Victoire Maçon-Dauxerre isn’t just a survivor—she’s a force for change, using her experiences to fight the cult of thinness still rooted in the world of fashion and beyond. Her courage reminds us: real beauty is about health, spirit, and self-worth—not a number on a label, or the lingering shadow of a scale.
