“The knives in politics are worse than those in Masterchef, because they stab you in the back”

Cristina Cifuentes left politics a few years ago in a “traumatic” way and has been hiding in television for some time. She collaborates with Ana Rosa and Risto Mejide, but tonight she will take a step further as a contestant in the new edition of Masterchef Celebrity which La 1 premieres at 10:50 p.m., after the new Broncano program. However, he refuses to participate in other reality shows, such as Survivorsalthough she has already had offers. “I’m not thinking about it. I’m already a real survivor of life.”

Who ‘tricked’ you into this Masterchef mess?

I didn’t know how to cook anything. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. Because there are people here who say they don’t know how to cook and then you see them… I had to look up on the Internet what it meant to poach an onion. I didn’t even know what the concept of poaching was! I said: ‘But what’s the difference between poaching and frying?’

I never cook, because my husband cooks at home. So, at my age, which is a few years, because I’m already 60, learning something new is very stimulating in itself. For me, Masterchef It has been a gift in every sense because it has been the opportunity to do something that I find very complicated but very interesting. I am very happy to have been able to participate.

Over the years, you have been rumoured to be a contestant on Supervivientes and Gran Hermano… Why did you agree to compete on Masterchef?

I really like the format and I liked that it was on public television. Really, it seemed like a fantasy to me. It was something I wanted to do. They proposed it to me, I thought about it, I talked about it with my husband and he asked me how I was going to go. MasterchefI didn’t know how to do anything and my fear at first was: ‘I have to learn to cook because people are going to say: ‘This woman has such a nerve, she goes on a cooking show and doesn’t know how to do absolutely anything.’

I have given a number of classes that you cannot even imagine. I have worked hard, because when you don’t know anything, you have to learn about traditional cooking, molecular cooking, spherifications… And then also about pastry making. Now I know how to make spherifications, foams, jams…

You have won over Inés Hernand, who speaks wonders of you. How has it been? Do you represent the reconciliation of the two Spains?

She has also won me over. It was love at first sight. Inés is a wonderful girl, really. For me, aside from the political issue, which I don’t care what she thinks, I’m left with the fact that she is a good girl, generous, affectionate, smart, funny… But her main quality is that she is a good person, empathetic with everyone.

Where do more knives fly? In the world of politics or in the kitchens of Masterchef?

But what a question! The number of knives is the same, what happens is that in Masterchef You have them in the drawer and if you cut yourself it’s your fault because you picked them up wrong, you were hasty or you slipped. In politics, the knife comes from behind and often from the person you least expect. And what’s more, they use the onion knife, which is the biggest and you can’t escape it.

Which politician you have met is the most skilled in the kitchen? Did you ask Celia Villalobos for advice?

No, I didn’t ask him. I don’t really think there’s much morning cooking in the world of politics. Then there might be a lot of phenomena. There are a lot of people who are interested…

Cristina, do you think Pedro Sánchez is a good cook or not?

I don’t see him in a kitchen doing absolutely nothing. In his own kitchen, I mean, but in other types of kitchens, yes. He has proven it.

Cifuentes, you are going to be David Broncano’s partner on the network, who a few days ago denied that Moncloa had placed him on public television. What do you think about this?

What I want is for public television, which is everyone’s television, to do phenomenally in every sense. Also in terms of audiences, above all, because it is a television that is paid for by all of us. So, if the signing of Broncano, who is a great professional, helps the audience to skyrocket, I think that’s great. Beyond that…

But are you one of those who thinks that it was commissioned by Moncloa?

No, I don’t think anything. I don’t think anything.

Do you think that his signing with TVE is a good idea?

I am not going to evaluate a specific signing, neither on a public channel nor on a private one. But on a public one even less so. In other words, it is a question that I do not comment on. What I am saying is that what I want is for it to go phenomenally well and I hope there are signings, in general, that make the audience go up. And I hope that this edition of Masterchef really interests the public and they want to see it.

If you had to promote Masterchef, which programme would you go to first? Pablo Motos’, Carlos Latre’s or Broncano’s?

I would go to all of them, because what we want is that Masterchef succeed and be seen by many people. And also, one thing is not incompatible with the other. We will have to go to everything and wherever they send us.

Which politician would you like to see cooking, under a mask or on a desert island?

Honestly, at this point in my life, I would prefer not to see too many politicians anywhere, much less on a desert island.

Before Masterchef, you were on the show Traitors…

…Well, I was in Traitors for a very short time, because as soon as I arrived they kicked me out. I didn’t even have time to say ‘hello, good morning, I’m Cristina Cifuentes’ and they were already kicking me out.

You continue to collaborate with Ana Rosa and Risto Mejide. Aside from television, what are you doing now?

I am currently at an impasse in my life in which I don’t really know what I want to be when I grow up. Because until very recently, television was something anecdotal for me. I have been working in recent years as a lawyer, registered with the bar association, as a practicing lawyer, with another profession that is not public, that is not known, but that has been there. At the moment, I am rethinking going back to the Complutense University, where I have my place. I have been a civil servant for 30 years by competitive examination, but honestly I don’t know. I don’t know if it is a good time to go back to university. So, for the moment what I am doing is living and enjoying myself. And as I am really enjoying television, because I am having a good time and it is a medium that I like, I will make the decision when it is appropriate.

Are you then open to new projects in television?

If I like them, yes. There have been things I’ve said no to, others I’ve said yes to…

Things like Survivors? Don’t you think about it in the long term?

Yes, but I don’t think about it. I’m already a true survivor of life. When you’re in a hospital ICU, about to die, preparing to die, and you come out of that situation, there’s no better way to survive.

Is television helping people to get to know you better for who you are, or do you think the image of politics still has a lot of influence?

Well, when you have a certain image in politics, it is difficult for that to change, because in the end politics, just like football or tortilla with or without onion, and more so at the moment when everything is so polarised, makes pigeonholing work. When you come from a right-wing or left-wing party, there are going to be people who, even without knowing you at all, are not going to like you simply because they have been there. I have been out of politics for eight years and I am not a member of any party. I accept my entire career but that weighs heavily in the end. However, I find it very curious, because you realise the power that television and the media have when many people say to you on the street: ‘I know you from television’. Not because I was president of the Community of Madrid, no. So, it is something that I do not consider. I like television, it is a medium that I like.

Beyond that, there is one thing I must say, because if I don’t say it I’ll explode, especially because it was a surprise to me. When I left politics, in such a traumatic way and at a very complicated time for me, there is one thing that continues to surprise me and perhaps it is what helped me the most to make that transition: everything I have found on the street is affection from the people and support from people even from very different political options. They say a lot that society is tense, but it is not true, it is politics that is tense and it is politics that transfers that tension to society. People on the street do not have an ideology, many times what they want are leaders who solve their day-to-day problems. They want jobs to be created, for things to get ahead… And that is quite gratifying. I say it sincerely, because I like people.