In an operating room about to undergo a facelift at the hands of surgeon Enrique Monereo, with whom he has already seen this way on more occasions. This is how the four-chapter documentary begins Alaska revealed which is produced by Shine (Macarena Rey) and broadcast by Movistar TV. The series premieres this Sunday, December 15.
At 61 years old, Olvido Gara undresses much more completely than when he did it in Interview revealing passages of a life that we thought we knew and really barely knew anything about. His arrival in Spain after leaving Mexico, the complicated relationship with his father, his rise to fame, his economic ruins, his loves of all sexes, his craziest life, his endless nights, his disappointments, his spiritual change after an experience that changed him from within, success, fame, television, the family he formed with Mario Vaquerizo, loneliness, peace, the union with his mother América, friendship and work with Federico Jiménez Losantos, the friends, the fans, Madrid… There are three chapters, health, money and love, and three moments to discover the soul of this woman that several generations adore and who should have patented the word reinvent herself because her continuous evolution is worthy of the best meaning. With Alaska you can talk about everything and not lose either your good taste or your good intelligence. Even the tandem he has formed with Mario, and not only sentimentally, is also an example of how to make a successful brand without losing its essence.
BC: I have seen her pose naked in some reports but she had never before gotten naked like she has until now and look, she has been giving interviews for years and even starring in her reality show.
A.: The team has given me absolute confidence. Do you know what proposals to make type documentaries? Blood Ties They come to me daily and I already did it at the time. I didn’t find those proposals interesting but here I first liked that it was a non-chronological story through three chapters of health, money and love, it seemed interesting to me. I also know the entire team very well for personal reasons and because we have worked in the past plus the guarantee of how this production company had made the Miguel Bosé documentary. The difference is that what Miguel said was going to surprise because it is a mystery in itself, but in my case I felt like I had already told everything. In “DEC”, “Tómbola”, “Salsa rosa”, in the reality show… I felt that everything had already been said but it is not the same to talk about everything in a more intimate way, reflecting your feelings and together. It was clear to me that if I did it it had to be giving my all. Half measures are not worth it.
BC: Not only is it a brave testimony but it is different because twenty years ago talking about bisexuality or drugs did not cause problems. Today, however, everything is looked at with a different magnifying glass and generates many controversies.
A.: It is true that when it comes to touching on certain topics on a daily basis I try not to enter because in the digital world we know the need to look for powerful headlines to get many clicks and that generates whirlwinds that do not last long but are a pain in the ass in your life and hence you avoid them. And I’m not telling you about talking about bisexuality or drugs, but that even if you talk about bread, celiacs will get upset. Everything is debatable and I think we should calm down since in the end nothing happens even if it does.
BC: Have you managed not to be affected by what they say about you?
A.: Not at all. It affects me and that’s why I try not to get into controversy. I assure you that when it happens it is a heaviness of the day. Everyone calls, you have to clarify, it feeds back and generates debates but for those who experience it it is a real burden.
BC: He tells without half measures what his father’s relationship was like, how it has marked him and how at the end of his days he was able to have that reunion. I suppose reliving certain chapters must remove a lot of things.
A.: It has taken up four months of my time but it has seemed like four years to me because they are sensations and feelings that weigh a lot. Thanks to the character I have, I knew how to keep many folders of my life and be calm, but actually taking them out again can cause pain and even the opposite. How to relive the separation of Los Pegamoides. With my father the good thing is that I was able to close the circle well with him. Listening to him and understanding him. He died very angry with life for having participated in a war. I was lucky to be an adult and understand him. It’s like my relationship with my mother. If he had died when I was in my twenties, I wouldn’t have been able to delve deeper. My luck is that I was able to do it with my father and hence it doesn’t generate a special conflict for me but logically it stirs me up. What I do confess to you that has disconcerted me the most is every time I talk in the documentary about people who are no longer here and I have realized the important weight they have had in my life. My anger is not having them today. Las Costus, Paloma Chamorro, Juan Pérez de Ayala… They were older than me and I was surprised that they loved and admired me and even came to my concerts because they believed in me. You don’t know how grateful I am. That’s why when I like what someone younger does I tell them a lot because I know how important it is to be appreciated by older people. It’s like the chapter in which many talk about Carlos Berlanga. Listening to Miguel Bosé or Nacho Canut I became a defender of Carlos because time relativizes everything and you realize that those stories that we experienced at the end of Los Pegamoides were not so important.
BC: You know how to relativize with the passage of time but you are still very susceptible to comments about your marriage and the rumors that continue to point to Mario’s alleged homosexuality. Are there things you never get used to?
A.: Especially because it is many years and it affects depending on where those comments come from. If a very old-fashioned man says it, he won’t understand seeing Mario with his heels and his pen and speaking feminine. But when the people who tell those stories are precisely the same ones who go to the pride demonstration to protest, that’s when you get upset and wonder what they’re about. Years ago we did not know what they thought of us except when someone wrote a Letter to the editor of a media outlet, but today everything reaches you and it is still curious what some of us think. In the end.
BC: Some are modern but are not able to admit that a heterosexual can wear makeup or wear heels.
A.: There are people who live corseted but luckily the world is more diverse.
BC: You have never hidden the cosmetic operations you have had and the documentary even begins before entering the operating room.
A.: The other day they asked me if I was addicted to surgery and I assure you that I am not. If it were you wouldn’t recognize me. You know that I love extreme ladies, or those who are totally tattooed, but I don’t have the life to do everything I would like, which are those and many more things. That’s why I look for balance.
BC: Is your mother going to be surprised when she sees this series?
A.: She knows many things like my financial situation or when I went to live at her house with Pedro, my boyfriend at the time. But there are other aspects that you don’t know, such as the relationship I had with my manager Pito. We get along very well but we are not friends at that level of telling each other everything no matter how cool my mother is. To begin with, I am very reserved and if I tell my things it is to friends. I also tell you that mothers deep down know everything even if there are things they prefer not to hear.
BC: From what he says, the romantic relationship he had with his former manager Pito had a huge impact on him. What has become of him?
A.: He returned after years as Bebe’s manager and we were very happy. Pito is located and we thought it was important that he collaborate in the documentary but as soon as he said yes he seemed to disappear. I think Pito has a great book if he really tells everything he has experienced, but I don’t know if he can do it.
BC: Have any red lines been drawn? I know you don’t like to talk about politics.
A.: In the last chapter there is a conversation with Federico Jiménez Losantos and how we touch on the absurd situation that for some the fact that he collaborates on esRadio entails. When I interviewed Tierno Galván I didn’t become anything different but it is what it is. My only red line was not to talk about others, something impossible because I don’t know how to narrate your life without naming the people who have been part of my experiences. I confess that some days I woke up with some worry about whether what I had said about someone was going to bother me. You never know.
BC: We arrive at the Mario Vaquerizo moment and the family moment that they have been living for more than twenty years. Yours is one of those stories with a happy ending.
A.: I wanted to make the documentary at this moment precisely because of how I am today: I have health, money and love. I think that is when you have to launch these projects and not serve as a catharsis when you are bad. But life is unpredictable. When I finish recording and the documentary is being edited is when I am almost left with Mario bedridden or even without him. Today he has poor vision and we still don’t know how it will end, but this shows you that life is a wonderful story that slaps you in the face the next day.
BC: Has the scare you have experienced served to value more what you have?
A.: It wasn’t necessary because we were very aware of how well we are and we greatly value everyday life. We have always had very clear priorities. Another thing is that we love our work and we don’t know how to say no but I don’t think that will change because it is in our way of being. We like what we do, how we do it and the moment we are in.
BC: But he must have been very scared…
A.: Mario had a reserved prognosis and that left the way open to any possibility. The fear I had was that his character would change, like when his brother died, because he is Mario’s base. I have seen that he is a survivor, like my mother, and they are two positive people with a very good character. Today he is in good condition and obviously there are desperate moments due to vision problems but we are here and I know that everything will adapt.
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