‘Serious Illness’ Forced Brigitte Bardot Into Lengthy Hospital Stay After Surgery

Oct 24, 2025 by apost team

This icon rose to global fame as an emblematic actress of the 1950s and 1960s. In mid-October 2025, at the age of 91, she was hospitalized in the south of France near her home in Saint-Tropez. In detail, she began her public life as a model, appearing on the cover of Elle at just 15 in 1950, which led to an acting offer from director Marc Allégret for his film “Les Lauriers Sont Coupés.” 

Her film career took off in 1952 when she starred in “Crazy for Love,” and in 1953 appeared in “Manila, the Girl in the Bikini,” “The Long Teeth,” and “His Father’s Portrait.” Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she became a global star and a symbol of sexual freedom, aesthetic change, and modern femininity. Yet she also openly spoke of the darker side of fame. In a 2010 interview with FRANCE magazine, she admitted, “I have really been on the verge of suicide several times – it’s a miracle that I am still alive.”

This icon is none other than Brigitte Bardot. After her last significant screen role in her first Hollywood film, “Dear Brigitte” in 1965, opposite James Stewart, she stepped away from acting in the 1970s and turned her attention to animal rights. In 1986, she founded the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, a French NGO devoted to protecting wild and domestic animals, and has focused on this mission for decades.

On Oct. 16, 2025, local French newspaper Var-Matin reported that Bardot spent nearly three weeks at a private hospital in Toulon undergoing surgery “as part of a serious illness.”

While details were scant, the hospital stay was described as connected to a “serious illness,” and Bardot’s condition was termed “worrying.” Her office later stated that the procedure was “minor” and that she was now back at home, resting, and grateful for the care she received and the concern shown by supporters.

This is not the first time Bardot has faced medically critical moments. In July 2023, at age 88, emergency services responded to her home in Saint-Tropez after she experienced breathing difficulties during a heat wave. Her husband, Bernard d’Ormale, said that she “did not lose consciousness” but suffered a “moment of respiratory distraction.” 

The older episode underscored her ongoing fragility in the past few years, as she has largely withdrawn from public life. While the October 2025 event raised alarms, her team’s statement emphasized that she wished for privacy and quiet during her recovery. It indicated that she would not respond to media inquiries at this time.

Despite her celebrated career and her advocacy work, Bardot remains a controversial figure. In 2008, she was fined nearly US $25,000 after being convicted of “provoking discrimination and racial hatred” by writing that Muslims were “destroying her country.” Back then, the court in Paris ordered her to pay €1,555 in damages to the anti-racism group MRAP. 

In 2018, she criticized the #MeToo movement. She told Paris Match:

“Many actresses flirt with producers to get a role. Then when they tell the story afterward, they say they have been harassed.” 

According to The Guardian, she added, “In actual fact, rather than benefit them, it only harms them. The vast majority are being hypocritical and ridiculous.”

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Brigitte Bardot’s health struggles remind us how even timeless icons face the fragility of age. What are your thoughts on her controversial views? Let us know, and then pass it on to those who remember Bardot’s golden years.