It’s half past seven in the afternoon and the sky over Madrid couldn’t be more overcast. Storm threat. Just the day that Telecinco celebrates the grand finale of Survivors! The first drops begin to fall in the rear parking lot of Mediaset España, where everything is already prepared to receive Arkano, Marieta, Rubén Torres and Pedro García Aguado. Cables, lights, cameras… and the helicopter. Everyone wants to take photos and videos.
“This edition has flown by. It has to do with working only once a week.” The speaker is Jorge Javier Vázquez, who receives BLUPER exclusively in dressing room number 8 in Fuencarral. “Survivors He had caught me working at a hard pace and it was always ‘when I’m done, I’m going on vacation.’ But this year, no,” she laughs.
Jorge is so relaxed that it doesn’t seem like he’s just moments away from getting in front of the cameras. And getting on the aircraft. “I’ve ridden several and it’s not my favorite mode of transportation,” he says. “This is a very special night because it has epic components with the arrival of the contestants in the helicopter and then they fall one by one”.
The finalists and Sandra Barneda, at the beginning of the live show of the final gala of ‘Survivors’.
Mediaset Spain
“The moment of announcing the winner is very vibrant”, confesses the one from Badalona, who was absent last year due to being on sick leave. The truth is that this has not been just another edition for Jorge, since he has reunited with his audience after the cancellation of Chinese stories in September.
Has it served you as therapy or to heal wounds? We asked him. “The truth is no,” she responds after thinking carefully about her response. “It has helped me enjoy it with great intensity because when you come to work once a week, you do it another way. It has been a very strange situation. He was very overloaded with work.”
“Controversy always appears”
The conversation with Jorge progresses and the water hits hard the window of his dressing room that overlooks the Fuencarral highway. It’s 8:15 p.m. and the World Cup is falling. Never before in the history of reality has rain made an appearance. It’s June, but it might as well feel like a March afternoon.
“Many claim that this has been the most controversial edition,” we slip, to which he denies. “No, no. There are many things that are repeated and I have studied them very well. First it is said that the casting is worthless, and then, as the edition progresses, controversy always appears. And it happens because people live it a lot. It’s hard to accept when your favorites are falling.”
“Some companions of ‘Not even if we were Shhh’ They are part of my family and Mediaset continues to be my home”
Jorge Javier has no problem answering when asked about the serious accusations that Kiko Matamoros made towards the program. “He is a partner with whom I have spent 15 years of my life and with whom I have a relationship that is proof of anything,” he responds. He also does not avoid the question about Nor that we were Shhh. “Some colleagues are part of my family and Mediaset continues to be my home.”
Time is upon us and Jorge Javier finalizes preparations with his stylist, Roberto Larrosa, and Cristina Castillo, your most trusted person. The Mediaset facilities are bustling with people, who go from here to there. The machinery of Survivorscomposed of more than 120 professionalsis already underway under the orders of Raul Prieto.
Jorge Javier answers his mobile phone and shares impressions with Cristina Castillo during an advertisement.
Mediaset Spain
The simple thing, if there is anything easy in the reality king of television, is that in The final times are very defined by everything that has to happen: voting, tests, reunions with family… Unlike the rest of the galas, in which the weight is distributed in Madrid and Honduras, the production is done entirely from the Mediaset studios.
The program began to take shape months ago. “The first thing to do is book the helicopter“, they tell us. The contents have been taking shape for two weeks, but it is not until a few hours before the red light comes on that the final list comes out.
Jorge Javier receives the last instructions before starting his flight with the helicopter.
Mediaset Spain
It’s 8:40 p.m., and the rain doesn’t stop. It is inevitable that those responsible for Survivors Pay attention to what the radar indicates, as happens in Formula 1. Jorge Javier appears at the doors of studio 6, where the public and the contestants – with the exception of Laura Matamoros, Arantxa del Sol, Rocío Madrid and Lorena Morlote – take their positions. “Winning angel!” part of the stands cheers Christ, who sits next to Carmen Borrego.
Before getting on the helicopter, Jorge greets Sandra Barneda very affectionately, the person responsible for narrating the last games, replacing Laura Madrueño. “Rain is a very good sign!”he says smiling while the water makes puddles on the floor.
Cristina Garmendia, direct witness
Fortunately, perhaps because of Poseidon, the storm subsides and the sky clears. There is a certain relief just when the first part of the gala begins to be recorded, at 9:08 p.m. This is done because civil aviation regulations do not allow a helicopter to fly over urban areas after dark. At 10:36 p.m., Survivors He resumes live with Jorge Javier at the helm.
Behind the scenes, by the way, is Cristina Garmendia. The new president of Mediaset Spain He does not miss any detail of what happens at the gala presented by Jorge Javier, with whom he exchanges a few words during a commercial break. The board goes out into the streets to experience the latest games firsthand.
One of the councilors protects Marieta from the cold before the new apnea test.
Mediaset Spain
It’s cool outside. So much so that Sandra Barneda has to resort to an anorak and the team Survivors rushes to cover the finalists. The three and a half hour gala progresses at a dizzying pace. The first to fall is Arkano and, with hardly any time to digest it, Marieta, Torres and Pedro line up The Altar of Poseidon. A hundred people crowd the street and cheer them on non-stop.
Afterwards, the Cuarzo team wanted to innovate in its first year at the head of Survivors taking apnea testing further with The Yoke of Poseidon. With Pedro gone, Marieta and Torres must go into the water to find the key that opens the four padlocks on the 20-kilogram chains that wrap around his body. It is distressing to see them just a few meters away.
Camaraderie in the final
As he had been doing during the contest, Torres proves to be a beast in the tests and is the first to set foot in the final vote by freeing himself from the chains. And although 200,000 euros are at stake, the camaraderie that exists between the finalists is to be admired. The three of them never stop encouraging each other.
It’s after midnight and no one is sleeping. It is being one of the most beautiful finals in recent years, and on set emotions are running high. A heart-stopping ending is expected. Very close. “As you see?”Jorge asks us before announcing the winner of the second vote of the night -Marieta or Pedro-, while taking a quick look at his cell phone.
Jorge Javier, forewarned, listens to the orders of the director, Raúl Prieto, through the earpiece.
Mediaset Spain
Their families are a nervous wreck.. At 00:50, joy overflows in Pedro’s closest circle. The ‘Big Brother’ will play the contest with Torres. His parents, his daughter and his sister, who is dressed as a water polo player, are very excited. That of Marieta – her classmates The island of temptations María and Ana, have come to tuck her in – they are disappointed.
The nerves are triggered in the last stretch program and everyone eagerly waits for Jorge Javier to announce the name of the winner. Either of them deserve it. Finally, the winner goes to Pedro, who explodes with joy upon receiving the check from the 200,000 euros in the hands of Sandra Barneda.
Pedro García Aguado celebrates his victory in ‘Survivors’, while Torres falls dejected.
The set is a party. A crowd of people bursts in, while a stealthy Jorge disappears behind the cameras. The reward for a formidable work comes early this Wednesday when viewing the audience data. Record with 22.1% screen share, three points more than last year.
But there is no time to rest. The machinery of Survivors It doesn’t stop and this Thursday the All Stars. “The casting is spectacular. They have all been top-notch contestants.. They are all very competitive and they are going to go to the sword to win, especially in the tests,” admits Vázquez, who will combine the galas of this special edition with Jorge’s diary.
“We have lived a wonderful time that has lasted many years and now we have to go for another”
“Have a lot of enthusiasm in the program and in the production company that makes it [Boomerang TV]. I had a meeting with them and they are very clear about what they want to do. I like to return to a newspaper and have it born with the idea of it being a long-term format.. I love releasing it in the summer,” says Jorge, who is confident that Telecinco will take off again.
“In this profession nothing is ever written. We have to keep fighting, and the people who are still here want to fight. We have lived a wonderful time that has lasted many years and now we have to go for another“, concludes Jorge Javier, who concludes: “I’m not much for looking back either.”
