For Sandra Barneda, Survivor is the most spectacular reality on television. And she says this after experiencing firsthand the eighth edition of The Temptation Island, with everything that this edition has meant for her, for the participants, for the viewers, and for television. Behind this success, there is a name, Montoya, the contestant, now also on Survivor, who made Sandra Barneda experience 20 islands in one.
She is used to it. Sandra Barneda knows that when you work on a reality show, conflict and spectacle are part of the equation because otherwise, there would be no result. However, even though she accepts it, her goal is to face, especially Survivor, as the voice that encourages them, the support, the calm in the middle of the storm.
"The key to success is to believe in yourself and do things the way you think they should be done without deviating from your values"
"I only aspire to host and have fun on the set. Enjoy, and that's it," says Barneda. If you ask her if that is the key to success, she hesitates because for her, the key to success is "believing in yourself and doing things the way you think they should be done without deviating from your values." In other words, "being as authentic as possible without building a character," she adds.
In fact, Sandra Barneda's success in The Temptation Island has been to show her emotions as if she were not recording a television program. Her expressions, gestures, and even the harsh comments she makes to the participants when she deems it necessary are famous and highly praised. Hence, the famous "Montoya, please!" that has been echoed even in the NBA or Formula 1, although it was actually her who said it. The "luck," she assures, is that "I have been allowed to do what I considered right and always be myself." Something that is not easy in this world, as she acknowledges, where "many times you have to say 'I won't go this way' or 'I don't want this' because it doesn't suit me." That is success for Sandra Barneda. Going home after a live show or recording and knowing that she has stayed true to her principles. And if then the audience follows, what more could you ask for.
She considers herself, among the three presenters of Survivor, Jorge Javier Vázquez, Carlos Sobera, and herself, the voice of mediation, although she also knows that "there is no life without conflicts." "I like conflict, but I need it to be resolved because otherwise, it takes its toll and leaves a residue that always comes out later," she says. "I know that there are no good novels without conflicts and that there are no good reality shows without conflicts. They have to exist, but you also have to know how to channel them because there is always a rise and then a fall, and I like to work very well on the falls because then another conflict will come."
"I would never go to The Temptation Island because going there would put my partner at risk. I mean, not even for all the gold in the world because I know what is experienced there"
In fact, in this edition of The Temptation Island, there has not been a chapter without conflict, and there has not been an episode without a spectacular rise and a terrifying fall. Just ask Montoya and Sandra Barneda herself, who still cannot believe the phenomenon that the "Montoya thing" has become. "My partner's parents, who are Dutch, were watching it at their home, and suddenly they started writing to me. Friends from Mexico, from Argentina, even my nephew who lives in Chile. Montoya's thing has been an absolute madness, all very crazy, but very beautiful," she says.
Once the program is over with the reunion three months later and with the debate that takes place tonight, Sandra Barneda tries not to have contact with the participants, not even until the moment of recording that reunion, as it is very important for her not to know anything, as she is afraid of being influenced by the information they could give her. Still, her magnetism with Montoya, of whom it has been said that his true love on The Temptation Island was the presenter and of which she was not aware until she saw him on television - "I think it's because he found peace with me," she says - has reached such a point that unintentionally since the program started, she only sees and hears Montoya everywhere, even when walking her dog. "Yes, the other day while walking with her, some guys started shouting 'Montoya, Montoya!' at me, and I approached them, and it turns out that Montoya had just left in a taxi," she reveals with laughter.