Belén Esteban Threatens to Leave 'La familia de la tele'

The initial steps of 'La familia de la tele' have not been well-received by many, as evidenced by the poor audience ratings. The surprise came when it was revealed that even one of its main stars, Belén Esteban, is not fond of the show. She did not hesitate to express her opinion live, criticising the format and topics, and announcing her desire to leave.

"At first glance, I don't like the format, with all due respect to my colleagues. I don't like any of the topics," she stated. "All the channels have covered them before us. People are tired of Pantoja, Lina Morgan, may she rest in peace, Terelu, everything. We have the capacity to do new things," she evaluated. She also lamented the format across different time slots and platforms: "The programme starts at 15:50, ends at 17:00 or so. We have two soap operas, one hour on RTVE Play, another hour scattered around. When we return at 19:00, we have an hour and a half of the programme," she described.

Her criticisms, she clarified, have nothing to do with the audience ratings. "I'm used to doing a different kind of television. There are things I want to say but can't. I want to be free like before, when I made mistakes," she emphasised. She feels so uncomfortable that she is seriously considering leaving the show. "I want to leave the programme, I want to talk to Óscar and Adrián because I want to go. I've been thinking about this for a while," she explained, referring to Óscar Cornejo and Adrián Madrid, the producers of La OSA.

"My mother is getting older, she lives in Benidorm and I want to enjoy her company. I want to be more attentive to my husband. My daughter lives far away. I want to focus on myself," she argued. "I've realised I want more time for myself. I want to be a bit selfish," she added, indicating that her departure is already a done deal.

However, Belén has reflected on all aspects of the programme, from the number of collaborators on set to the profile of its presenters. "If I have to take more days off, I have no problem. We don't fit on the couch, there are more of us than at the last supper," she expressed. "I see Aitor and Inés, and we talk about Pepi Valladares, and Aitor, this kid from 'Cifras y letras', it's like taking me from here and putting me in 'Cifras y letras', I can't even do a sudoku," she added.

Her words were echoed by Aitor Albizua, one of the three presenters of 'La familia de la tele' alongside María Patiño and Inés Hernand: "We came to do something, different things, and I speak for myself, I hope no one is offended, but people at home are noticing it too: I don't know how to do gossip journalism." In this regard, he made it clear: "I didn't come to do gossip journalism," he concluded. A sentiment shared by his colleague Inés: "The audience doesn't resonate with our participation in the programme," she concluded.