French President Francois Hollande Chooses Actress Julie Gayet over Partner Valerie Treirweiler: Reports

It seems that French President Francois Hollande has chosen actress Julie Gayet over long-time partner Valerie Trierweiler for he is "in negotiations, including legal ones" to end his nine-year relationship with her.

According to the Elysee palace sources, Trierweiler wanted to continue the relationship with Hollande but the president was adamant, reported The Telegraph.

After the revelations of Hollande-Gayet affair, sources close to Treirweiler said she wanted to handle the situation the way Hilary Clinton did during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Paris Match, the weekly magazine for which Treirweiler works, reported that Hollande told her he "needed time."

Elysee sources said, Sunday, Treirweiler and Hollande were preparing for "an inevitable separation," Journal du Dimanche reported.

A Hollande aide said that the relationship was "over," reported the New York Post. Another presidential advisor said Hollande cannot publicly humiliate and cold-shoulder Trierweiler by quickly replacing her with Gayett. "If there must be a split, it must be dignified and elegant regarding Valerie Trierweiler. And above all, July Gayet mustn't instantly move into the Elysee," the advisor told the newspaper Le Figaro on Monday.

Hollande, so far has not denied or accepted his relation with actress Gayet. "I have one principle," Hollande told reporters at a recent press conference. "That private affairs are dealt with in private with due respect to all parties."

The affair has drawn criticism from the opposition in the country. Jean-François Copé, president of the Union for a Popular Movement party, said that the affair was "disastrous for the image of the presidential role," reported The Guardian.

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