“We said to ourselves that he had waited for another man to take my hand”: Estelle Lefébure reveals her extraordinary marriage with David Hallyday

Estelle Lefébure looks back on her publicized marriage to David Hallyday and shares her well-being recipes in a new inspiring and intimate book.

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Icon of the French catwalks and familiar face of magazines, Estelle Lefébure marked the 1990s both with her career as a model and with her highly publicized love affair with David Hallyday. Recently, the ex-model surprised by returning to this key episode in her life, while she was promoting her new cookbook My best wellness recipes. Invited by Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine on the set of It’s up to youshe shares a retrospective that is both moving and unexpected on this still intense past, several years after the separation of the legendary couple. Between delirious crowds, family memories and unpublished confidences, Estelle Lefébure offers new insight into the event which changed her destiny.

A marriage in the spotlight: contrasting memories of Estelle Lefébure

When we pronounce the names Estelle Lefébure et David Hallydayit’s hard not to think of their union placed in the spotlight. Their meeting dates back to 1988 on the set of Each otherflagship show hosted by Patrick Sabatier. A year later, in September 1989, the two celebrities united in Saint-Martin-de-Boscherville, in Normandy. But what is still striking today is the quasi-historical dimension of the event. “There were more than 3,000 people, it was huge,” he is still surprised Estelle Lefébure. The dense crowd and the omnipresent press made this marriage a cérémonie hors normeworthy of the greatest soap operas in the world of French music.

Johnny Hallyday, legendary singer, and Sylvie Vartan, star of the song, were also present, testifying to the exceptional nature of the moment. But behind the rhinestones, the fairy tale is tinged with sadness: the day after the wedding, Estelle Lefébure loses her father. A significant event which gives an almost unreal dimension to this story. “We said to ourselves that he had waited for another man to take my hand,” she confides soberly to Paris Match.

Despite the magic of that day, the relationship ended in February 2001. Together, they had two daughters, Emma and Ilona Smet, who today embody the next generation and the continuity of this artistic lineage.

Estelle Lefébure, from the podium to the plate: her return to the spotlight with a well-being book

If Estelle Lefébure’s love life has been scrutinized at length, it is now on a completely different terrain that she chooses to express herself: cooking. With My best wellness recipesreleased on May 6, 2026 by Flammarion, it shares with its audience a more intimate and peaceful side. The book, which compiles his favorite recipes focused on living well, gives pride of place to a healthy diet, a direct reflection of his balanced lifestyle. Always committed, Estelle Lefébure demonstrates that bien-être also invites itself into the simplicity of everyday dishes.

His time on the set of It’s up to you has not gone unnoticed: the ex-model seduced by his sincerity and his ability to combine personal memories and advice on well-being. This shift is no coincidence and testifies to Estelle Lefébure’s ability to renew herself, while remaining faithful to her values: authenticity, transmission and optimism. Can it now become a reference in the world of “eating better”? Looking at the reception given to his book, the response already seems positive.

Sources : Public, Paris Match

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