Roberto Leal (Alcal de Guadaira, 1979) is one of the fashionable presenters on television. At the head of Pasapalabra and El Desafo, before that he was in Operacin Triunfo, he gave us the bells, he was in Madrid Directo as a reporter. He has done everything and everything well. Now he has published a children’s story and is an ambassador for Jhayber because he embodies all the values that the brand likes. We spoke with Roberto Leal about life, journalism, moments and family…
-How did being an ambassador for Jhayber come about?
-They told me that Jhayber was interested in meeting me. It was like that, literally. And I asked: But, are we talking about Jhayber, the mythical Jhayber? They told me he could be a good brand ambassador. They had asked who might fit their brand values and several paths led to my name. They are very familiar and wanted to get to know the person before signing anything. We met in Madrid, we met, we ate together and, damn, it was very cool because many things coincided. They are what they are, they are authentic and they do not pretend to be giants, but rather to mark the line of comfort, closeness. And there we made a match and until today. I feel super comfortable, there is no need to force anything.
-It’s just that you are an athlete with capital letters.
-I have done and do a lot of sports. Yes, I have a sports spirit and it is also one of the values of the brand that has a lifestyle and running line. We all remember the mythical Jhayber, the gray ones, the indestructible ones that they called them from the 80s and 90s, which are still being manufactured today.
-I really liked how you presume to be very familiar. A television star like you who puts your family unit as a number 1 priority.
-For me, what would be difficult is to pretend to be what you are not, because in the end I am privileged, to find myself at this moment, on TV and in life. Brands, like Jhayber, that notice that you are on Antena 3 presenting a program like Pasapalabra, I consider that a gift. When the lights go off and you go home, my wife is my partner, my friend and we work together in the production company, we take care of our children and quality time with them. If we did not have all those very stable foundations, I believe that what they call success, which everyone can define as they want, would not exist as such. For me, truly, success is getting home and having my children happy, enjoying time with them. And then if your dad does very well on TV, I hope it does well for me for many years. But the TV thing may be ephemeral, although we have now been on the crest of the wave for a few years, but this will pass. What I don’t want to happen is the time I enjoy with my children.
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-But, life is a bit of a ferris wheel
-This is a ferris wheel. I have been on programs that no one watches and I have been on the streets as a reporter and, in the end, life, I don’t know how, has led me to this. Let’s enjoy it, but tomorrow I can’t say: How much success, how much I shined on TV, but with my children, I haven’t seen them grow up! I’m not going to consent to that.
-Tell me that, that being a Sevilla fan, you played as a child in a Betis club, but you were wearing a Sevilla shirt.
-In my town, in Alcal de Guadara, there was no Sevilla team with a team to play, and the Bética team, which has been in Alcal for many years, was the team that trained at the door of my house on an albero field, so. And there were many friends of mine who, suddenly, born Sevillistas like me, looking for a team, met at the Batic stadium. It was curious, to make us the form to join the federation, the photo was with the Sevilla shirt to play for a team that was Betis’ youth team. It was very funny, they called me DavorRober, because I wore number 9 and I wanted to be like Suker, but wearing the green shirt. When more photos have started to be published of when I was little playing on the Batic rock, the fun is tremendous. But there is no doubt about the colors I feel. In the end Seville and Betis divide the city and divide the families sportingly. In my family I have true pro and Sevillista players, like my father, my grandfather, my mother or my sister. However, my nephew is more athletic than the shield. Imagine the derbies we experienced!
-This year you are suffering with Sevilla
-We have been suffering for a couple of years, suddenly you see your team unrecognizable having been lucky enough to enjoy everything we have experienced in these 20 years. I have been able to be in three of the seven finals. Live them in person, some cover them as a journalist, others as an amateur. I don’t know, I’m not going to go into analyzing the sporting aspect because I get lost and it would be difficult to find the reason, but I think that Sevilla deserves to be in a situation other than this one, which is looking down, on the edge of the precipice. When it seems like we are going out, suddenly there is a team that is also in need and friendly, like Celta, which in 10 minutes gives you two and you go home. We are on the edge with teams like Cadiz, Almera, Granada. We are half Andalucia pending. I’m not having a good time, but I fully trust the locker room. In the end, the only ones who can move forward are the players.
Sevilla deserves to be in another situation that it is not, which is looking down, on the edge of the precipice
-You are an admirer of Messi and now
-Now everyone talks about Mbapp, right? I’m not lucky enough to see him play. He is called to be one of the greats. I really like the clubs that bet on the youth team. I believe that the future of clubs, like Sevilla, which are in need of spending very little and suddenly producing figures that will give the club many good years, lies in the quarries. For example, Isaac, he found himself there with a bicoca in front. Of course, with Quique, Sala, with Juanlu, these footballers who are already popular. That they are going to go to other teams, because in the end Sevilla has to make money. But these are the ones who break their chests for the shield. There you have Jess Navas who kills himself every day because he is a true Sevillista. Or Sergio Ramos, who was criticized a lot, and thank God that Sergio Ramos has come. You may like him more or less, he may have a flaw, but he feels the colors, he is from Seville and he can break his face. The uncle comes, he says: I’m sorry what happened. We can all make mistakes, me too. From then on, the guy who ah, breaks his face, trains like a beast, trying to get the club forward, who scores goals for you, who gets them out from under the goalkeeper. What more do we want, uncle? What more do we want?
-Cameo in Loving in troubled times, a book of stories, what else
-In the end everything is almost unintentional, because the story arises from a need to explain to my daughter why my father was no longer here, why I asked you and I didn’t really know how to answer it. And both my wife and I wrote it, but without the intention of publishing anything. And we realized that there was little literature about childhood grief, about telling the little ones why those grandparents don’t show up at home. And we offered it to Planeta and it emerged. And then, since I love to draw, I said that I and my daughter would illustrate it.
And about Amar, they called me from home and told me: We are doing cameos with Chicote, with Sonsoles, would you like it? And I said: Delighted. They made me a literature teacher, but it stays there. I greatly respect the profession of an actor and it would never occur to me in my life to get involved there.
At the first OT gala, Rosa López even told me: Roberto, you are very good, but get the stick out of your ass.
-Everyone talks about Operacin Triunfo, Pasapalabra and now El desafo, but tell me a television moment that has marked you.
-The first Operacin Triunfo gala, for me was a before and after in my career. The program had not been broadcast for six years, it came from Telecinco and then people were very focused. And with my sights set on seeing this man who came from making cooking recipes in Spain Direct. And I know I had a lot of pressure, but I also took it as a great opportunity. And then I was lucky that it turned out well, but I remember that first gala, the sound failed, the nerves got to us all, I had a script, which they always give you on cards and for safety I put it under my arm like a bag. And he didn’t let go even to applaud, he applauded with the cards. That can be seen. And it was very tense. Rosa López even told me: Roberto, you are very well, you are enjoying yourself, but take the stick out of your ass. She told me directly.
-Oh really?
-Yes, yes, you can look. And that first gala and everything I experienced there marked a before and after. When I finished, my mother told me: You are very good, but enjoy it. And I said, that’s what’s missing the most because I already had the opportunity, now I had to enjoy it.
-And the most emotional moment
-When my father died, who died in 2019. He died between December 25 and 26. His wake was on the 26th and I rang the bell on the 31st, with Ana Igartiburu. Like anyone, you have three or four days. I had to ring the bells. But you can imagine, right? Because in the end a lot of people are watching you and then La1 was the leader in the bells. I had already done them the year before and I was very nervous. But just that year I had the feeling that I was almost on the wing, as if levitating. It was between hard and beautiful. Because at the end of my message, when I saw it later, because I didn’t know what I was saying at that moment, I said: hey, there comes a time when we live so fast that your parents call you on the phone, send you a WhatsApp and they don’t care. You answer because you think you will answer it. Do it, because it will hurt you a lot when your parents are not there. WhatsApp is very nice when people are with you, but when they are not and you go up and see that you did not answer some messages because you thought your priority was to get somewhere, you regret it. So that taught me a lot of things. So today I take it everywhere with me, we enjoy everything, we recently did it at DisneyLand Paris…
-You have the feeling that for all mothers you are like the perfect boyfriend, the perfect father. Because of course, I think that comes to you.
-Yes, they tell me in some interviews, you are the perfect son-in-law. I always say one thing, half joking, I am super happy with my wife, but I have had other partners before. We should also ask my ex-mothers-in-law what they think. It’s a very nice compliment. In the end, when they tell you that, it means that you are in many people’s homes and that you are almost part of their family. So welcome.
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