The death of Mila Ximenez , a talk show host of the pink chronicle who began as a character on the Marbella jet set, has brought to the present that boom in gossip shows in the late 90s and early 2000s. Tombola , which began to be broadcast in 1997 on Canal Nou, it was the pillar on which a whole phenomenon was built, of which Mediaset, on Telecinco, became its main supporter.
In those times when the gatherings of Jesus Marinas, Karmele Marchante, Lydia Lozano and Angel Antonio Herrera reaped millionaire audiences, there were also some tragic deaths, with a duel narrated almost live, by the plate companions. As has happened these days with the loss of Mila Ximenez as a result of lung cancer.
When the slot that Salvame Deluxe occupies today was occupied by the famous Salsa Rosa , back in 2003 , in full success of the format, the sudden death of the journalist Maika Vergara took place.His death at the young age of 54 due to an unexpected heart attack left his fellow socialites in deep sadness. Live tributes were paid to him, his long career was remembered and his professional qualities were praised. Co-stars such as Angela Portero, Pepe Calabuig (former director of Interviu) and the presenter himself, Santi Acosta, burst into tears while the format continued, as Maika herself would have wanted –they affirmed–. The situation was very similar to what has been experienced in Salvame lately.
Maika Vergara was a journalist specializing in chronicles rosa born in Jerez de la Frontera.The woman from Cádiz began her career in such emblematic publications as Ten Minutes, Week and Hello! It was then that she became one of the main chroniclers of the Marbella jet set, in the golden age of the city of Malaga in which Gunilla Von-Bismarck, Jaime de Mora y Aragon, Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe and Philippe Junot were the ‘kings’ of the covers and the ‘big brothers’, ‘tronistas’, ‘shores’ and other famous trash had not yet landed in the magazines. Maika, along with such well-known names as Pilar Eyre, Otero, Llamazares, Rigalt, Barrientos, Fernando Abizanda, Teuma and some more were the elite of social journalism at the time.
Very heartfelt was also the death of Carmen Hornillosat the age of 52, who achieved popularity thanks to the mythical Martian Chronicles , in the discussion table moderated by Javier Sarda in which Boris Izaguirre, Alessandro Lequio, Carlos Latre, Javier Cardenas and even Mila Ximenez herself also participated, among much others. Hornillos passed away in 2014 due to cancer after a long career in the media that included Todo va bien (Antena 3) with Pepe Navarro, Quedate conmigo (Telecinco), DÃa a dÃa (Telecinco), and Protagonistas (with Luis del Olmo in Wave Zero). Between 2004 and 2008 he presented in Madrid Canal 7 Corazon del Milenio, a pink newsletter created by Carlos Ferrando. Shortly before his disappearance, he worked at What a happy time! and the last plate I stepped on was in 2013 the Salvame one.
Although Tombola opened the ban on information from the rogue heart, the serious precedent was Extra Rosa (1997-98), on Antena 3, hosted by Rosa Villascastin and Ana Rosa Quintana. Carlos Garcia-Calvo rose to fame in this space, a journalist specialized in fashion and later in Queen Letizia who, with his acid comments and his words in English and French, became essential in the gatherings of the heart. “Elegance is in the classic,” popularized by this journalist, writer and friend, among other well-known personalities, of the designer Lorenzo Caprile, who dressed with impeccable elegance and wore extremely refined manners. Based in Spain, despite being born in Argentina, he died at the age of 67 of a sudden heart attack.
In Extra Rosa also collaborated the Granadan Tico Medina, the former model Naty Abascal and Jose Luis de Vilallonga , among many others, when in the social gatherings of the heart they talked about interesting characters, cultural and even historical issues.
