Tatiana Delgado, the stripper who became a household name after her run on “Supervivientes” in 2011, returned to Spanish television with a dramatically new look, appearing on Ion Aramendi’s Telecinco programme “El verano se mueve” after years away from the cameras.
The show had promised a radical transformation, and it did not disappoint. Delgado appeared with completely white hair, presumably a wig, noticeably fuller lips and several new tattoos, including one that now covers her entire neck in black.
She acknowledged that many people do not like the new look, but said it was a response to an existential crisis she went through after two years in which she was unable to speak. She said she had hit rock bottom too many times.
Her Supervivientes past
Delgado was one of the best-known faces on Spanish television following her appearance on “Supervivientes” in 2011. She jumped from a helicopter into the sea and injured a breast implant, forcing her to leave the competition.
She later returned to the show through what is known in Spain as “the big door,” finishing as the third finalist. Rosa Benito won that edition.
With Telecinco preparing a new edition, “Supervivientes All Stars,” many now assume Delgado will go back to the Cayos Cochinos islands to build on her legacy there. She used her television appearance to reaffirm her interest in returning to Honduras, even though producers have not yet announced the cast.
From “Torrente 4” to reality TV regular
Delgado first became known to the public after appearing in Santiago Segura’s film “Torrente 4,” where she worked alongside Kiko Rivera. The two later crossed paths again on “Supervivientes.”
She went on to become a regular presence on Mediaset sets, taking part in numerous interviews and appearing as a collaborator, and even as a suitor, on the dating show “Mujeres y Hombres y Viceversa.”
She gradually faded from television and turned her attention to an aesthetics business, which also ended in failure. That period coincided with a decline in her mother’s health after she suffered two consecutive blood clots and eventually died following a long illness.
Childhood trauma detailed in new book
Delgado said that when she began writing about her life, she realised she had never come to terms with much of what happened in her childhood. She said that as a child someone had tried to abuse her, that she had suffered bullying, and that her father used to beat her and her siblings.
She is using her return to the media to promote her book, “El amor empieza por uno mismo” (“Love Begins With Yourself”), in which she recounts the worst chapters of her life. She said she does not reject any of what she went through, because it made her the person she is today.
A new life in Amsterdam
Delgado described herself as a self-made woman who has built a new life in Amsterdam. She said she rebuilt herself by reading extensively and reconnecting with her faith in God, after spending two years “lost in limbo,” a period during which she even lost the ability to speak.
She said she dissociated during that time, with her mind and body no longer following the same path, and said the trauma even caused her eyes to change colour. She linked the breakdown to the thromboses her mother suffered and to her subsequent death, saying her mother had been “the last leg my table had left.”
Delgado broke down while recalling the period on air, but said that crying is not a sign of weakness. She said she believes everyone can move forward from hardship, even when it is not easy, a message she explores further in her book and through her training to become a therapist and life coach.
For now, Delgado said she is hoping to be given the chance to return to Honduras for “Supervivientes All Stars.”
