In 2018, Mennel Ibtissem caused a sensation on the show “The Voice” on TF1. If the young woman with light eyes had seduced the jurors during the blind auditions by repeating the hit “Hallelujah”she was unfortunately cut during editing and asked to leave the program because of a heated controversy linked to old tweets written by her and deemed conspiratorial.
In 2020, the young woman reappeared transformed and without her turban on her hair. Some of his fans then accused him of “abandoning religion” and did not fail to criticize his new look.
This Saturday, December 23, 2023, the pretty brunette spoke on Instagram to make a huge update and announce some great news. “In 2018, you met me on TF1 with Hallelujah. I wore a turban and I shared my Syrian/Moroccan origins. Subsequently I was given a label, that of the frail young woman, originally Arabic, representing the Muslims of France and their fight. All these heavy labels, while I thought I would share my love for music, and bring together sensitive hearts. You should know that in 2018, I had no kind entourage to support me. guide in this storm. Moreover, I had no real conviction about my life choices” she recalled.
“The day I decided to no longer wear the turban, because it no longer made sense to me, I was also made to appear as a weak-minded woman allowing herself to be commanded by the media, and capitulating to a “fight”. It was a period where I had just found my identity, the one that I really am, far from these diktats coming from the media and my own family circle. But I suffered from my own silence in wanting to satisfy everything the world. So, who am I? Let me tell you in my words, simply. I already prefer to say what I am not: I am not a Muslim. I have faith in God, I love God with all my being, it is my compass I refuse to be associated with a socio-religious fight which is not mine. My fight is that of peace, a just fight, whatever the beliefs of each one” she clarified.
Mennel (The Voice) pregnant with her first child
This development was also the opportunity for the young woman to announce that she is going to become a mother for the first time
. “I am in a relationship with the man of my life and we are expecting our first child. I went through a trying pregnancy which highlighted this inescapable need to reveal myself authentically to everyone. It took me months before “dare to write these lines to you. I have changed, I have grown, my religious and personal convictions have been affirmed and are unshakeable today. I can say that in 2018, I did not have the spiritual and emotional strength to claim what I really wanted for myself.
And to conclude: “I wish to continue my career as an artist while respecting these values that are dear to me. I do not forget that my first song in public was Hallelujah, an interpretation in 2 languages which reflects my eternal love for music and my Arab roots that I cherish. In this year 2024, I am starting a life as a mother. It is added to my life as an artist and a woman. The balance of the 3 is essential for my mental, emotional health and artistic creativity. Thank God, today I am surrounded by kind and reassuring people who allow me and encourage me to share this rebirth with you.”
ES