Cristina Cordula is a woman who has succeeded in life. Between her career in modeling, various TV roles, and her private life marked by the strong couple she forms with her husband Frédéric Cassin, the TV host can look back on her life with great pride. However, as she recalled in “La tribune dimanche” in an interview published on Sunday, April 5, 2026, not everything was easy for this now 61-year-old Brazilian. The star of the show “Cousu main” on RMC Life explains that she had nothing to shine as a child: “I was a very fearful little girl who cried as soon as she went to school. There was also the anxiety of my parents about my health,” she begins.
Cristina Cordula wants to talk about the tumor that was diagnosed in her at a very young age. “At 5 years old, I was operated on for a tumor on my neck, and this ordeal weakened me a lot. A few sessions with a psychologist were enough to soothe this discomfort,” she rejoices. Then, Cristina Cordula clung to her dream of becoming an international model to gain confidence and try her luck abroad. “I built confidence. Courage allowed me to leave my country for Spain then France. And believe me, it was necessary because no one was waiting for me in the modeling world,” says who admits to not fitting the Brazilian beauty standards. “I wasn’t ugly, but not the school’s beauty either. They made fun of my height, for example. Nobody really believed in me,” she remembers.
“I realized that I would no longer have anyone to turn to”: Cristina Cordula on the death of her parents
Among the trials of life, Cristina Cordula also had to face the death of her younger brother at the age of 19 in a car accident. Shortly after, her father also died. He never met Enzo, the TV host and stylist’s son. “Then when my mother left, at the beginning of my forties, I realized that I would no longer have anyone to turn to. But I am not in self-pity, on the contrary: these trials have become my strength,” she believes, in hindsight. A beautiful determination that once again materialized through her acquisition of French nationality after years of lengthy procedures and efforts. Go, France!
