Concha Velasco never renounced television: from Santa Teresa or Cine de Barrio to Surprise Surprise

Concha Velasco, who died this December 2 at the age of 84, He had a long film career behind him when he made the leap to television through the private channels that were beginning to make their way in the early 1990s. The actress then began to develop a profile as a presenter – she had previously starred in several Studio 1 programs on TVE – which has accompanied her since then until she almost retired from public life. She was also Saint Teresa on the small screen.

On Telecinco she hosted the programs Querida Concha and Queridos Padres in 1992. Then she moved to Antena 3 to star in series such as Encantada de la vida, Yo, una mujer or Mamá Quiero Ser Artista. She was also at the start of the legendary youth series Compañeros. Her great work as a presenter came in 1999, when she took over from Isabel Gemio at the head of Surprise, Surprise.

From that time, by the way, is the hoax of 'Ricky Martin, the dog and the jam, a bizarre story that went viral when “viral” was not even a concept, because there were no social networks. The fact is that everyone said they had seen some images that Surprise, Surprise never aired. “No one saw it because it didn't happen,” Velasco settled a few years ago. “There are still people who say that it has happened and that they have seen it,” said the presenter. The magnitude of the matter was so great that the program had to deny at that time something that had never happened but which, however, is already in the history of television. “We have been victims of a hoax. They have attacked us in a kind of collective madness. An attack in which they spoke of something that never happened and of protagonists who have never existed. It's all a lie,” Concha said live and in prime time to make it clear that that had never been true.

Concha Velasco's name is also linked to great television series, such as Personal Reasons, Heirs – “Not even God separates this family,” was one of her mythical phrases in that production – The Golden Girls, Gran Hotel, Under suspicion or Velvet.

In 2011 he took charge of Cine de Barrio, the legendary TVE program. She took the baton from Carmen Sevilla and gave it, in 2020, to Alaska, in charge of piloting it until Inés Ballester arrived last September. If we talk about historical moments on television, Concha Velasco starred in another very juicy one in this program when in 2012 she decided to send a message full of sarcasm to Lina Morgan for not attending this space on the public network as a guest.

“The film you are going to see stars Lina Morgan, who once again could not be at Cine de Barrio this afternoon,” Velasco began. “Dear Lina, what are you like! I hope you'll come see me when I open at La Latina. What I want is to dance, even if it's not your theater anymore, you have a fixed box there. Hey, pretty, come on, I'll wait for you,” she finished. . The distance between the actresses ended days later, when Lina Morgan went to see the play at the theater.

Concha Velasco had something great, regardless of all her virtues as an actress. She was a complete artist and she knew how to understand her success in all facets of it. She had no complexes and she never looked down on television. On the contrary. She told Paco León that he had been marked by some words that Concha Velasco once said to him at the height of the artist's television career. “Never leave 'Aída', because you young people are complainers about success, you get tired very quickly.”