On June 23, one of the longest and most striking stages of Spanish television came to an end. After 14 years on the air and countless moments and controversies, Sálvame closed its doors forever on Telecinco. The farewell to Jorge Javier Vázquez’s program brought with it a general drop in audiences in Fuencarral, as well as comments from those who wanted to speak after years of keeping their lips closed.
Paz Padilla, substitute presenter for Jorge Javier during several stages of the show, has been one of the figures who have run against her after her stormy departure in 2022. The communicator accused the program’s directors and those who criticized her during the pandemic , but he has found a replica from a close person. María Patiño, presenter in the last days of Sálvame, has criticized the behavior of the woman from Cádiz.
“It was a program in which, you know, people shouted, and that was normal. Now I wouldn’t like to have a program like that, I’m in a different time. I apologize if I ever hurt you. I was very uncomfortable, it did not go with my philosophy,” she expressed, before ensuring that her statements about Covid were manipulated: “They edited my video talking about Covid. I am not anti-vaccine, I have all the vaccines. It took its toll on me, then time put things in place and here we are.”
“They fired me from Mediaset. I don’t know if she had anything to do with that, but it was a side effect, I imagine. I don’t want to know, but it obviously happened,” she said on the Lo Que Tú Digas podcast this past week. However, hours later she found the response from her former set partner, María Patiño. The Galician criticized Padilla’s attitude, pointing out her love for the journalist and questioning the hypocrisy shown in her statements.
“I love my profession above all else. I have always been faithful and free. I don’t have the need to apologize and even less to blame the production companies that have hired me. I speak when I have them in front of me, never when they disappear. I love journalism, I don’t deny the press. I hate the hypocrisy and above all the absence of generosity from Paz Padilla who, even though she was just a partner, when she asked me for help I was there,” were her words.
Regarding the dismissal of Paz Padilla, the former director of Sálvame also came to the fore to criticize the presenter. “There was an episode that disappointed me. I thought I loved her, and given what I saw, it was surely a love also out of interest,” expressed David Valldeperas last October, generating another response from the person involved: “I am aware of what I have to live. “I don’t usually step on trodden ground.”