“Before television I cleaned many bars”

Theirs is a media battle to visualize the diversity of bodies and the acceptance of those who are not in the traditional canons of aesthetic gurus. Aware that fame can become a custom-made speaker, the presenter stands as a defender of sizes and the normalization and freedom of bodies. Her latest campaign comes from the food chain Lidl and its clothing line, Esmara, for which she has posed and for which we meet in a loft in Madrid where, apart from clothes, there is a free and varied breakfast: fruit for those who follow their light lifestyle and delicious sandwiches and rolls for those of us who love snacking and breaking the rules. And so, between croissants and stuffed midnights, we talk to Tania about this campaign that recovers her as a model

This campaign is what you would say is a great start to the season.

TL: They have chosen me as ambassador of the new autumn-winter fashion campaign that has as its motto dress free and I love it, since they defend all types of bodies and sizes and that is something that makes me very stupid.

Have you always been a free woman or is that also learned over the years?

TL: I think I have been very free since I was quite young and I recognize that it is fortunate but it is true that over the years I am increasingly freer.

What have you freed yourself from lately?

TL: Of expectations, of judgments, of chains that give you exclusive work but don’t let you do more things… It is true that every day I feel freer and I am more tied than ever to having my family and the responsibilities that entails but Since it is my choice, I will tell you that I still feel free even within the small cage that is the family.

She says that the television networks have kept her corseted.

TL: I have been a reporter for many years and I have worked behind the cameras, so when Telecinco offered me a network contract it seemed like a very good thing because I was finally going to have security, I was going to be warm on a set and without having to be constantly in the unemployment line. I accepted it and at the time it was fantastic. It was 2009 and I was linked to Mediaset for eleven years, but I admit that I also really liked having my freedom again and not having to ask dad’s permission to work wherever I want.

Having a fixed salary and that job stability also has its obligations.

TL: Imagine in my case, that I came from Bilbao during the hard times of terrorism, with a lot of unemployment in those 80s, and I was afraid of being out of work. Today I don’t feel it anymore. I am autonomous and over the years I have the experience of knowing that I can do many things to get ahead and I don’t fall for anything. If I have to clean a bar I do it. And I’m not telling you what you are capable of doing for your children. When you have them you notice that you have more ovaries to face life.

You will agree with me that many would be surprised if they saw her cleaning in a bar.

TL: You go through many turns in life and I confess that before television I have cleaned many bars so it would not be anything new. A good education is not so much going to a certain school but rather the possibility of being an all-rounder and always doing anything. Because of my job, one day you are talking to the Queen and the next day to a cleaner. That is good education.

Knowing her, I imagine she will be working on several projects at the same time.

TL: That’s always. I am with my podcast, with my work on television and I am also an opinion maker on social networks.

What is your best memory from television?

TL: The team. Being a presenter is a very lonely profession and what I usually long for is having a lot of people around us and talking about our things. That’s the sauce of life.

And the worst?

TL: When my breast was seen on television. They called that ‘Sabrina’ moment the ‘taniagate’ and I remember it as something very unpleasant. I was in a mud pool on the show I will resist and Yola Berrocal and Kiko Hernández were undoing the hooks on my dress so I could stay in a bikini. Since I took off my earpiece, I didn’t hear the director who told me not to continue. Suddenly at the last moment they untied everything and I was left naked. That lack of control was very unpleasant for me at 29 years old. From then on it didn’t matter what I had done before because everything was now my boob.

Did you get angry with someone?

TL: With myself and with no one in particular. I took off my earpiece because I felt like getting into the mud and it was unprofessional. I admit that I get so involved and always want to enjoy what I do that this time it got out of hand.

How do you see your former Telecinco home today?

TL: The moment I stopped working I confess that I started watching Telecinco less. They are undergoing a change, I don’t know if for the better or worse, and I suppose it is something cyclical that usually happens but I imagine that they will return to what they were.

What would you like to do?

TL: A channel for women with topics that are not usually discussed such as menopause, the feeling of guilt for leaving children in daycare, violence against women that has increased almost 40 percent since 2017 and no one says it…

However, there are more and more campaigns and budgets.

TL: I don’t know what’s missing but clearly you have to review yourself and try new things.

How do you get such luminous skin?

TL: I take great care of it but it is also genetic because of my grandmother. In life there is a moment when you get upset or you get upset and I have gotten upset. I have a lot of ass but beautiful skin.

Are you still happy in love?

TL: Yes. We try to take care of the relationship, which was difficult for us last year, but we want to take time for ourselves and prioritize ourselves.