Who was going to tell a young girl? Nuria Roca, who was encouraged to participate in a television competition Channel 9 to try to win the prize and get money for a trip, that 30 years later she would continue to work in this medium as a collaborator The anthill and presenter at The Rock. And that’s how it all started, by chance. Participated in the program Congratulations to get funds for the trip to finish her studies and she won, she took some money and they called her for a casting while her dream was different, to be an architect, that’s what she studied for Technical Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
In 1994, she made her debut as a presenter on the Channel 9 format called The type of facea quiz contest. From there to Women’s TV and, in 1998, the big leap to popularity, when Chicho Ibáñez Serrador noticed her and hired her to direct the animal program. Waku Waku on Spanish television.
Then they came We lose glory, X Factor, Grand Slam, Surprise Reform, Lost in the Tribe or X Factor, among others, until today, 30 years later, where viewers can see her every Thursday on El Hormiguero participating in the current affairs debate with Pablo Motos, Tamara Falcó, Cristina Pardo and Juan del Val, performing magic on some Mondays after the comedians’ meeting, and every Sunday in the magazine La Roca, where he reviews the news of the entire week for hours live on La Sexta. In both cases, she shares the stage with her husband Juan del Val, her inseparable companion since the writer interviewed her for a magazine where she worked more than two decades ago.
SPANISH contacted Nuria Roca to talk about the new season of the two programs he works on, the duel The anthill And The revolt or remember the great moments experienced on television during these years.
Question: How are you experiencing the great competition of access prime time this season with the arrival of David Broncano and La Revuelta?
Answer: The only thing I don’t like about what we see is the fact of the sides because, deep down, what is being harmed is television. They are talking about something that goes beyond television and I think that is a mistake, especially for those of us who work and love this medium.
So, across the board, anything that gets people watching more television always seems absolutely fantastic to me. The medium is in a moment of transformation, and if in that moment of transformation we get more people and new generations to come and see it, then they’re welcome. I hope it reaches that new audience and they stay to see it. What we’ve seen in the last few weeks is that there are more people watching television, and I think that’s fantastic because everything has increased, which I think is very positive.
Q: But Carlos Latre’s program, for example, was cancelled.
A: There are also collateral victims, of course, but this is TV, and I’m going to tell you about shows that start and stop after two weeks, I’ve been there too. But this is TV, welcome to TV…
Q: Were you able to speak with the “showman” after Babylon Show was taken off the air?
A: I haven’t spoken with Carlos, but it has been a task for him because there is nothing that can excite you more than starting a project and, moreover, as personal as this one. But there is the remote control, which is the one that manages. And then, if you put this remote control in the same shaker as the patience of those who decide, then the question arises as to whether they can support you more or less. There are formats with which you are more patient and others with which you are not.
Q: Does each program have its place?
A: The fight for the audience this season is a bit complicated and everything is very shared. Those who come back go to a new place, so everything is more difficult.
Q: Is there a lack of patience on television with programs?
A: It’s been going on for 30 years, let’s make no mistake about it. When shows didn’t work, they were cut. A lot of it depends on the network’s expectations of a show, whether it’s going to last a long time, whether it has a certain length… if, for example, there are eight slots and you see that in the third slot it doesn’t work, then they pull it. It’s always been that way. Those of us who work in television put all the enthusiasm in the world into the shows we’re involved in. In some cases, I would have liked more if they had had a little more patience, but I also understand the decisions when they’re made.
Just as you appreciate the success of a show, it hurts you personally when it’s canceled because you had high hopes for it and thought people were going to see it. It hurts your heart and your whole body when it’s taken away for you, for the crew, the production company, the network… There’s a kind of mourning every time a show doesn’t work.
Q: What is your daily life like with several projects at the same time?
A: I have to organize my schedule well (laughs). The anthill I usually only go on Thursdays, unless I have to do the magic section, which is on Mondays. I like to arrive early to prepare the themes and do my makeup calmly. Then we have the rehearsal, which is like a TV masterclass, and then the show begins. I really like going to El Homiguero.
For The Rock, On Thursday we hold the content meeting and decide which topics we will discuss on Sunday, closing the list. On Friday we develop all the topics, on Saturday we close the script and on Sunday we make the program. This is my dynamic every week. And then, the rest of the days, I dedicate them to other tasks (laughs).
30 years on TV
Q: Of those 30 years of television, 26 were shared with Juan del Val.
A: For at least four years, we have worked side by side for almost my entire professional career.
Q: How is Juan del Val as a colleague?
A: I have been working with him since I have known him. Imagine, our whole life together and we really enjoy working hand in hand, being work colleagues, life partners, parents, traveling together… So, we try to do all the things we like to do together. We understand each other very well, we complement each other and, in that sense, I think we are a good team.
Q: But how do you avoid bringing work home? Are they talking about a lot of work?
A: Yes, we don’t avoid it, it would be ridiculous not to. Work is part of your daily life, so in a conversation at home you talk about work, the mortgage, the purchase… I think it’s also very enriching to be able to talk about it outside the work environment and take it home. to treat it with a certain distance.
Q: Is it better to deal with Juan on TV or at home?
A: Well, it’s very similar (laughs). On both sides, it’s Juan in his purest form, so I handle him well both on set and at home, there’s no problem (laughs).
Q: Returning to your beginnings on television: what remains of this Nuria Roca who made her debut as a presenter on The type of face?
A: The illusion remains. Because I believe that the illusion in television can never be lost. I am passionate about this medium, I am a TV geek, I love it and any project I embark on makes me as excited as the first time. It is a reality. So, well, you no longer have the innocence of the beginning, since what you know, what you want, what you don’t want, what you choose… And that, I think, is a point in its favor.
Nuria Roca and Juan del Val in “El Hormiguero”.
Q: And now that the return of legendary programs to television is in fashion, would you like to see WakuWaku return?
A: I wouldn’t present it again because I had already done it at the time. What I like is novelty, that’s why I’ve done such different things, because being able to contribute something to a format and, at the same time, it can teach me something new, I like that. On some occasions I have been asked if I would give the Chimes again (on December 31, 1999, he received the new century on RTVE with Ramón García and, later, he presented the 2000 welcome gala with Andoni Ferreño and Mabel Lozano. ) Well, if I have to do them, I do them, but it is not something that I would repeat. On the other hand, if in 15 years I were asked if I would do La Roca again, I would say yes because it has all the ingredients to repeat.
Fourth season of “The Rock”
Q: How did you face this new season?
A: We came back on September 15th, but I would have done it much earlier because I’m having a great time doing The Rock, it’s a show that I love.
Q: In the first installments, you had a gastronomic section, but you have stated several times that you are not a big fan of culinary still lifes on television: why?
A: Because I’m not interested in it. I love cooking and I follow cooking a lot on social media. As a viewer, I don’t like to consume it, to be honest. I also don’t like paranormal events or happenings. What we’ve experienced this year The Rock is to bring together all the trends that are evolving on social networks in terms of food through videos and we put them into practice in the program. I have already told you that I do not like food in television shows at all, but doing it this way seemed interesting to me, I think it is a content that people like.
Q: Which of the current topics would you like to explore further?
A: They are all interesting. Look, I don’t like events, for example, I think the public trial that is taking place in Paris on the multiple rapes, the Pélicot case, seems so terrible and so horrifying that I think we have to deal with it, not understand it, because it is incomprehensible, but know the details so that such things never happen again. The institutional crisis that is taking place between Venezuela and Spain, we will see where it ends up… I think there are always interesting topics to discuss.
Q: There are many hours of live programming…
A: I really like live music, I can’t help it. The program goes by very quickly, so I have no problem. Of course, when we finish, I’m exhausted, like a truck ran over me, but it’s a nice feeling because it’s a way of seeing the great effort you make to get here. The Rock before. Also, to recover well, then I’m going to have dinner (laughs).
