Carla Bruni

A constant fixture in the tabloids thanks to her high-profile relationships with various rock stars, Carla Bruni undeniably brought a touch of showbiz into the world of politics when she married French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Far from the archetypal First Lady, Bruni was a muse and inspiration for a number of iconic fashion houses during the peak of the supermodel era and regularly earned seven-figure annual salaries before quitting the industry in the late '90s. But she proved that she was more than just a pretty face when she reinvented herself as a purveyor of folk chansons, scoring a trio of chart-topping albums in her adopted homeland, while her eventful career also took detours into Hollywood, charity work and various humanitarian causes.