Author Laurent Binet, who was invited by Hollande to follow him during his campaigning, describes how the victorious socialist Party candidate regularly referred Sarkozy as an “absolute bastard” in private.

The book, entitled “Nothing Happens as Planned”, includes details of what appears to be a bitter rivalry between the two politicians.

While watching a televised interview with Sarkozy, in which he called for Hollande to condemn Martine Aubry’s comparison of the then President to Bernard Madoff, Binet reports Hollande shouted at the screen that Sarkozy will do time in prison too.

Binet also says the episode in which Hollande was caught by the media calling Sarkozy a “sale mec”, or shady character, made him laugh “because in private he regularly called him an absolute bastard, in a very calm manner.”

The book is to be released in early September.