CARLA: MY LOVE CHILD THERAPY; Bruni tells of father shock.

Byline: Andrew Gregory

[e-mail] CARLA Bruni was forced to go into therapy after discovering she was a love child, she revealed yesterday.

In a frank confession during a TV interview, France's first-lady told for the first time how the death of her multi-millionaire father had plunged her into depression.

But there was more shocking news to come after the death of Alberto Bruni Tedeschi.

It was then Bruni's mother, Marisa, broke the news that her real father was, in fact, a toyboy classical guitarist.

Recalling the crisis moment in a life that had been hugely privileged until then, Bruni, 41, said: "I had a life that was totally about action, completely outside of psychoanalysis until the age of 28."

Marisa, a former concert pianist, had confessed to her daughter that she was the result of a six-year affair with Brazilian-born Maurizio Remmert. After being given the shock news, the former supermodel said she threw herself into therapy "body and soul".

Civilised Bruni, who married French president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 after a whirlwind romance, has now spent the last eight years in therapy - but she told French TV that she refuses to lie down on her analyst's couch.

She said: "It's artificial for me.

I feel like I'm in a farce.

"For the last two years, I've been face to face with my analyst. This more civilised situation helps me speak more freely."

Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, who was 81 when he died, had moved his family from Turin, in Italy, to Paris when Bruni was a schoolgirl after threats from leftwing terrorists.

Bruni became a model in her teens before enjoying very public affairs with a long list of celebrities including Rolling Stones' frontman Mick Jagger.

She also went on to have a love child of her own - Aurelien, now nine - with philosopher Raphael Enthoven, whose marriage she also broke up.

Soon after admitting she was a "tamer of men" who did not believe in monogamy, Bruni married Sarkozy after a whirlwind romance of just 80 days. The couple had been set up by his friend, advertising guru Jacques Seguela.

Earlier this year, Seguela published his account of their first meeting in a book, claiming that Sarkozy proposed to the model and singer within two hours of meeting her at a dinner party.

"You'll be my Marilyn to my JFK," the president is said to have told her in front of stunned guests.

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TREATMENT: Carla Bruni