She was not made to “be a mother”: Brigitte Bardot and her promise to her only child, never wanted, “the object of my misfortune”

Iconic French actress Brigitte Bardot, who died on Sunday aged 91, once said she would “rather give birth to a little dog” when asked about her son. Then, he made him a promise.

The death of Brigitte Bardotwhich occurred on Sunday, came months after he was admitted to hospital for a serious illness.

The only son, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier

It is also the “Independent” that shares some details on the concealed relationship of the iconic actress with her only son. Rumors resurfaced after his death.

With his 65 year old son, Nicolas-Jacques CharrierBardot has always had a strained relationship due to her previous harsh statements about never wanting to become a mother.

However, in the last years of her life, the actress, singer and activist had changed her approach to speaking publicly about the breakup. “I promised Nicolas that I would never talk about him in my interviews,” he declared to Paris Match in June 2024.

«The object of my misfortune»

The actress became a mother to her second husband Jacques Charrierin 1960. After his parents’ divorce in 1962, little Nicolas was raised by his father’s parents.

The son had already tried to convince his mother not to talk about their relationship before the release of his controversial 1996 memoir, Initiales BB

But her attempts to censor the book were unsuccessful, as the story ended up in the newspapers of the time, after the mother had referred to her son as “the object of my misfortune”.

“I was not made to be a mother,” Bardot wrote in her memoirs, as reported by “The Independent”.

She would have preferred to “give birth to a little dog”

“I know it’s horrible to admit this, but I’m not old enough to take care of a child.” The star also wrote that she tried to have an abortion, but was forced to carry the pregnancy to term because the procedure was illegal in France at the time.

Also in the book she wrote: «I looked at my flat and slender stomach in the mirror like a dear friend on whom I was about to close the lid of a coffin».

The then 62-year-old also sparked backlash in a press conference at the time when asked about her son, saying she would “rather give birth to a little dog.”

Sporadic contact over the years between mother and child

Growing up, Nicholas-Jacques Charrier chose to stay away from the spotlight. He settled in Norway with his wife, with whom he has children and today also grandchildren.

Over time, the relationship between mother and child softened somewhat, although contact was limited.

When BB married her fourth and last husband, Bernard d’Ormalein 1992, did so in Norway, near where Nicolas and his family live.

The late actress and activist told the French newspaper “Var Matin” in 2018 that she and her son visited each other every year.