What has become of Esther Aranda, the contestant of 'Operación Triunfo' who gave the "worst performance" according to Risto Mejide

If there is one facet for which Risto Mejide is especially remembered, that is as a judge on television talent shows. The publicist has been one of the visible faces of the jury in programs such as Got Talent or Factor X in recent years, although the beginning of his popularity dates back to the run of Operación Triunfo on Telecinco in the second half of the 2000s.

It was at the Gestmusic talent show where viewers were able to get to know Risto’s toughest and most controversial side. And if there is a person who has the words of the presenter engraved on fire, that is Esther Aranda, a contestant on OT in 2008. There she came to tell him that she had given the “worst and most unfortunate performance” in the history of the format . Now, 15 years later, both will meet again in Viajando con Chester, the program presented by Mejide in Cuatro.

Despite Risto’s strong evaluations, Esther’s passage through the contest was not exactly the most fleeting: it was necessary to wait until the sixth gala for the public to decide her expulsion from the Operación Triunfo academy. A week before she had abandoned Tania G, with whom she did a tandem in the interpretation that enervated Mejide: Las de la intuición, by Shakira, at gala 1 of the edition.

After leaving OT, the artist, a native of Malaga, decided to continue pursuing her dream of devoting herself to music and began recording a debut album that never saw the light of day. A few years later, in 2011, she released a single called Bloody Heart and accompanied it with its corresponding video clip of hers.

After this short experience in music, Esther Aranda decided to put aside her artistic side to focus on her private life. During this period, she has also done some sporadic interviews on television, where she has also recalled her bad experience in Operación Triunfo.

Until this long-awaited reunion with Risto Mejide occurred, his last public appearance had taken place in October 2022 on the Dear Hater podcast, presented by the influencer Malbert. There he had negative words not only towards the judge of the contest, but also towards other of his colleagues in the program, such as the winner of the edition, Virginia Maestro (whom he called “mustia”) or Noemí Galera, director of the academy (” He wasn’t a very pretty person”).