London, Jan 18 : Francois Hollande is believed to be liberated after the recent global exposure of his affair with actress Julie Gayet.

A friend of the President told Le Parisien that Hollande is managing this business as if it was a political problem, not a romantic problem, the Independent reported.

Other sources say that the crisis has revealed the true Hollande - not the "Flanby" (caramel custard) of his nickname but a tough, cold and driven man.

President Hollande's surprising "calm" comes partly, insiders say, from a sense of having triumphed against all the odds at his press conference last Tuesday.

For the rest of the world, the President's refusal to comment on the crisis in his private life was a cause for astonishment and mockery.  Yet the consensus of the French media and political classes is that the two-hour performance by Hollande was a "tour de force".

Closer magazine, which exposed the affair with Gayet last week, has produced new revelations.  The magazine said that the relationship had started two years ago - before Hollande was elected President. (ANI)