French President Nicolas Sarkozy's maybe-fake romance is absolutely real, he insists. So much so that Sarko used his platform at the first official press conference of 2008 to discuss the possibility of marrying the polyamorist former supermodel Carla Bruni. Sarko told the assembled crowd of 600 journalists and the French public that their relationship was serious, "But it is not the Sunday newspaper which will set the date. There are strong chances that you will hear about it when it has already happened."

The French press have watched with amusement as the freshly divorced Prez, allegedly besotted by Bruni, has paraded her on state trips to Egypt and, most recently, Jordan, where he was photographed with Bruni's young son, Aurelien Enthoven, sitting astride Sarko's shoulders.

The drama over Sarkozy's love life comes at a time when his popularity is waning in national polls, with one regional paper sniping: "The French people did not elect him to be a rock star. He forgot that he should have a romance with France and not with himself and his paramour."

As for the former Mrs. Sarkozy, Cecilia, she appears to be doing fine, as rumors swirl of her marriage plans to Richard Attias, an events planner with whom she had an affair in 2005.