Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is France's most 'irritating' celebrity

The Italian-born singer-model came top of a list of "personalities you want to smack" published by the French magazine VSD, with a slap-rating of 52 percent, The Telegraph reported on its website.

Behind her came the actors Alain Delon and Gerard Depardieu and footballer Eric Cantona.
According to VSD, Bruni-Sarkozy's fall from grace is partly due to her "grande bourgeoise" lifestyle and partly to an antimonarchical "Marie-Antoinette" syndrome among the French public. The president's wife is most unpopular among other women.

"Possibly the idea of the singer and the president creates an image of the couple that is too perfect to be true," VSD added.

Another woman came top of the list of most annoying politicians, with Segolene Royal, the Socialist presidential hopeful, outclassing Brice Hortefeux, the interior minister, and the new champion of the far-right, Marine Le Pen.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the president, will have been pleased to find himself only in fourth place, with a 63 percent slap-rating.

After the country's disastrous World Cup, it was no surprise that two figures from football topped the list of most annoying sports personalities. Franck Ribery, one of the leaders of the players' strike in South Africa, came equal first on 68 percent with Raymond Domenech, the team's manager.