Ex-model steals the show in Brazil

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SAO PAULO: In a new Brazilian government characterized by powerful women, a 27-year-old former beauty pageant contestant is competing with President Dilma Rousseff for the title of biggest media sensation.

Photos of Marcela Temer and her 70-year-old husband, Vice President Michel Temer, were plastered across the front pages of local newspapers for a second straight day on Monday after the pair turned heads at weekend inauguration ceremonies.

The blonde law school graduate met her husband seven years ago when she asked him for a photo at an event in her hometown in rural Sao Paulo state, and he requested her phone number in return.

"Age is not an obstacle in our case," Marcela Temer told Estado de S. Paulo in comments published on Monday. "It's like Michel was 30 years old. It's funny to say, but it's true."

Temer said she planned to take the bar exam and would take on some kind of charity work "if there's demand for it."