Brigitte Bardot’s cause of death has been revealed by her husband, Bernard d’Ormale.
Bardot died at age 91 on December 28, 2025, from complications related to an unspecified form of cancer, her spouse told France’s Paris Match magazine in an interview published on Wednesday, January 7.
D’Ormale told the outlet that the French former actress had dealt “very well” with two cancer-related surgeries in recent months before the disease “took her.”
“It slipped out two or three times in recent months, during moments of physical suffering, she would say, ‘I’m fed up, I want to leave,’” d’Ormale said.
According to Paris Match, Bardot spent her final weeks at her villa, La Madrague, in St-Tropez, France, surrounded by her pet cats and dogs, as well as her doting husband.
“I never left her side. I watched over her, supported by nurses who came discreetly every day,” d’Ormale said of Bardot’s final months.
Bardot’s husband also described her final moments while the two were together in bed.
“I was half asleep beside her. I sat up when I heard her say, ‘Pioupiou,’ that little nickname we used for each other in private, and then it was over,” he said.
“A sense of peace and tranquility settled over her face. And she became incredibly beautiful again, just like in her youth. You wouldn’t have believed she was 91,” d’Ormale said.
Bardot’s funeral service took place at 11 a.m. local time Wednesday at the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption church in St-Tropez. She will be laid to rest in a family vault inside the town’s cemetery, where her parents are also buried.
“The ceremony will reflect who she was, with the people who knew and loved her. There will no doubt be some surprises, but it will be simple, just as Brigitte wanted,” Bruno Jacquelin, spokesperson for the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, told AFP, per France’s Le Monde newspaper.
News of Bardot’s death first broke last month.
“The Brigitte Bardot Foundation announces with immense sadness the death of its founder and president, Madame Brigitte Bardot, a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to abandon her prestigious career to dedicate her life and energy to animal welfare and her foundation,” Bardot’s charity said in a statement to AFP at the time.
In October 2025, French newspaper Var-Martin reported that Bardot had undergone surgery for a “serious illness” and was in “worrying” condition. Her office subsequently confirmed she had “minor surgery that went well” and was now recuperating at home in St-Tropez.
Later that month, Bardot shut down internet rumors that she had died.
“I don’t know which idiot started this fake news about my disappearance tonight, but know that I’m fine and I have no intention of bowing out,” she wrote in French via X. “A word to the wise.”
Bardot is survived by her husband, son Nicolas, granddaughters Anna and Théa and several great-grandchildren.
