Cheating French President, Hollande To Formally Announce Split From His First Lady Today

Two weeks after celebrity magazine Closer exposed President Hollande's alleged affair with French actress Julie Gayet, he is today set to formally announce his separation from his first lady Valerie Trierweiler.

48-year-old Ms Trierweiler had fallen ill and had to be hospitalized after news broke out that the President was cheating on her. DailyMail reports Ms Trierweiler today set off on a 'humanitarian' visit to India, where she is expected to speak for the first time since the scandal broke.

The press release from the Elysee Palace should be released sometime today even though a spokesman for the president declined to comment on the report, and Trierweiler's spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.

                                                         Ms Trierweiler & Gayet

Hollande, 59, is reportedly the most unpopular president in modern France, according to polls. He has four children from a previous relationship with Segolene Royal, a senior member of his Socialist Party and a 2007 presidential candidate. Royal announced their separation just after she lost the 2007 election to Nicolas Sarkozy.

Ms Trierweiler, an arts columnist for weekly magazine Paris Match, is not married to Hollande but assumed the role of first lady at official functions following his election in May 2012.