France: Hormones In Overdrive - President Hollande confirms separation from partner

Ms Gayet (41) and President Francoise Hollande (59)

"I wish to make it known that I have ended my partnership with Valérie Trierweiler," Hollande said, adding that he was speaking as a private individual and not as the president of the French Republic

Trierweiler, 48, will travel to India on Sunday for a charity trip.

The high-profile pair have been together since 2006. Two weeks ago, celebrity magazine Closer published a report that Hollande was having an affair with French actress Gayet. It ran pictures of a nocturnal visitor arriving via scooter at Gayet's apartment. It identified the nighttime caller, whose face was obscured by his motorcycle helmet, as the French president.

Trierweiler was hospitalised for "exhaustion" after the news broke. When she was discharged on January 18 she moved into La Lanterne, an official presidential residence next to the Versailles Palace.

Hollande has four children from a previous relationship with Ségolène Royal, a senior member of his Socialist Party and a 2007 presidential candidate.

Trierweiler, an arts columnist for weekly magazine Paris Match, is not married to Hollande but assumed the role of first lady at official functions following his election in May 2012.

Hollande has known Gayet since at least 2012, when she featured in a campaign clip in which she described him as a "humble" and "fantastic" man.

Read more: Hollande confirms separation from partner Trierweiler - France - France 24