Risto Mejide apologizes to Esther Aranda for her attitude in 'Operación Triunfo': "I'm very sorry"

Risto Mejide demonstrated this Tuesday in Viajando con Chester that it is never too late to ask for forgiveness, even if fifteen years have passed. And it is that the presenter of Cuatro met again with Esther Aranda, a former contestant of Operación Triunfo 2008, an edition broadcast on Telecinco, whom he sentenced with her harsh assessments as a jury of the musical format.

Now, fifteen years later, they both saw each other’s faces and clarified matters unknown to the general public. Risto not only denounced coercion to choose her favorite, but also wanted to apologize to Esther Aranda for her attitude towards her. “My enemies weren’t the contestants,” he said.

Operación Triunfo crossed paths in 2008: Risto Mejide as a jury of the format and Esther Aranda as a contestant. However, the relationship between them was always tense and distant, mainly due to the harsh assessments and comments made by the publicist about the singer’s vocal and artistic quality.

Over the years, both met again in Traveling with Chester, where they saw the situation in perspective and about which they were able to clarify several things. Above all, Risto, who came to explain what his internal dispute was that led him to take such a defiant and belligerent attitude with the triumphs.

“I hated that format with all my might and I told the producers before going in, I told them that I was going to say everything I thought about absolutely everything and it’s not good,” explained the publicist. In fact, “in the three editions that I was there, it was to go for the program. My enemies, even if I tell you to believe it, were not you. I was going for the format”.

To which Esther Aranda, stunned, wanted to know: “Why do you get into a project that you don’t like and that you hate?” “To destroy it, it was not so bad for me. Where is Operación Triunfo? We are not going to be hypocrites. I had a goal, yes. You were collateral victims of my objective, I admit it and I apologize for what may have hurt you in the least, ”she assured.

For her part, the singer did not hesitate to accept her apologies, although she acknowledged that at that time the situation was beyond her: she had to suffer the booing of the people live, but also the public signaling when leaving the Academy. “People pointed their fingers at me and said that I was the one who sang badly, I didn’t want to go sing anywhere, even so, I worked a lot, but the skin was hard,” she acknowledged.

Then, and just before the end of the interview, Risto Mejide looked into Esther Aranda’s eyes and apologized: “I want to tell you with all the letters that I’m very sorry, that I hope you didn’t have to go through that.”

“As you say, we were collateral damage and, sincerely from my heart, I tell you that I don’t even hold a grudge against you, on the contrary, I love you, and that I do not live in hatred, neither with you nor with anyone,” she replied. “That’s why you are a good person, thank you for accessing Chester, which has also been my request and thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain myself,” concluded Mejide.