Gisela Valcárcel

Gisela Valcárcel
Gisela Valcárcel (2008)
Born	Sonia Mercedes Gisela Valcárcel Álvarez (1963-01-26) 26 January 1963 Lima, Peru
Other names	"La reina del medio día" (the queen of mid-day TV shows), "La señito"
Occupation	hostess, actress, writer, businesswoman
Years active	21
Spouse(s)	soccer player Roberto Martínez- captain of "U" (universitario de deportes) soccer team (divorced), Architect Javier Carmona (divorced)
Children	Ethel Poso Valcárcel
Awards	Stevie Awards 2009

Sonia Mercedes Gisela Valcárcel Álvarez (born January 26, 1963) is a Peruvian television hostess, actress,^[1] and businesswoman.

Personal life

Valcarcel was born on 26 January 1963, to her parents Jorge Valcárcel and Teresa Álvarez. She studied at Institución Educativa Teresa González de Fanning. Aún era menor de edad cuando Gisela creyó erróneamente encontrar el amor verdadero y eterno en los brazos de Jorge Pozo, un hombre que le hizo falsas promesas de amor, pues apenas conoció que la joven de entonces 17 años estaba embarazada, le dio la espalda. Con una hijita (Ethel) en brazos y grandes temores, Gisela inició así su arduo y enrevesado camino al éxito.

She started as a secretary at a car company and was hired as an extra for theatre shows. Her career in show business started the day she publicly gave a kiss in the mouth to Venezuelan singer Oscar de León live on Peruvian TV. She was working as a part-time receptionist on Panamerican televisión, channel 5, back then.

On 10 June 1995, she married Roberto Martínez Vera-Tudela, a popular soccer player & captain of "la U". The wedding grabbed headlines in the national press and was broadcast live on television. After some years, the couple divorced.

She was involved in a political scandal when a video of her with José Francisco Carreño Crousillat and Vladimiro Montesinos, where they talked about 1 hour. The footage shows that Montesinos informed Valcárcel of measures to be taken to prevent the spread of a book (La Señito by Carlos Vidal) that reveals intimate aspects of Valcárcel's life. This was denounced as an offense against public administration. A lawsuit was not filed since the judge dismissed the complaint and acquitted the parties involved of all charges.

In the meantime, she also entered a phase of spiritual search that took her to India, where she met some religious leaders, including Sathya Sai Baba, and in the U.S. Deepak Chopra. This changed her perspective, bringing a stage of peace to her life. In 2006- after six years of romance- she married Peruvian architect Javier Carmona. The couple separated shortly after the marriage due to a supposed affair between Carmona and another Peruvian entertainer- aka "vedette"- Tula Rodríguez. Gisela Valcárcel was her mentor and considered herself betrayed by her mentee.

Biography

She started as a comic actress and a dancer ("vedette"), in the program Risas y Salsa and La gran Revista.

In 1987, Panamericana Televisión proposed conducting a Peruvian version of Hello Susana, which would be named "Alo Gisela". Valcárcel then became the queen of midday on Peruvian TV for several years during the late '80s and early '90s.

Her guests have been famous Latin American stars such as Julio Iglesias, Luis Miguel, Guillermo Dávila, Ricardo Montaner, Shakira, María Antonieta de las Nieves, Isabel Pantoja, José Luis Rodríguez, Menudo, Ricky Martin, Thalía, Paulina Rubio, Rocío Dúrcal, and Paloma San Basilio. Her TV shows were always very popular due to her interaction with the audiences, including phone conversations on TV and offering advice to the audience, especially housewives. At the same time, she founded "Amarige Salon & Urban Spa", a beauty parlor.

Gisela Valcárcel simultaneously hosted Saturday nighttime television shows in the late nineties and early 2000, including a local version of Big Brother named La Casa de Gisela.

Her latest project is a local version of Bailando por un sueño in franchise with Mexican TV station Televisa. In January 2009 she travelled to the United States to get a new franchise in the Natpe conference. In February 2009 she returned to Lima with her new TV project: El Show de los Sueños, again in a franchise with Televisa.

In 2010 she hosted "El Gran Show".

In 2012, she hosted Operación Triunfo, the Peruvian version of Star Academy. However, in August she decided to do again the dance reality show El Gran Show.

Businesswoman

Valcárcel currently owns and manages the Beauty Salons & Spas Lima "Amarige." She is the director of women's magazines Gisela and Amarige. Moreover, she runs her own television production company called GV Productions.

Writer

In 2005 her autobiography, My Name is Gisela, was published by Santillana Group. In it, she gives an account of her life from childhood, including her beginnings as a star and her coming to television as hostess of the program Aló Gisela.

If I talk about my sorrows and joys that is because what friends do: tell everything

— Gisela Valcarcel, at presentation of the book (translated from Spanish)

Appearances

Films

• Tarata (2008)

Awards

References