“Every day we open our minds a little more and the way we think about love.”

What did you think when they called you? First dates?

The truth is, it was absolutely magical, because I didn’t expect it. I was travelling, because I was in Amsterdam and my representative called me and said, “Look, Lydia, I have this option, I don’t know if I’m interested or not. It’s a very interesting proposal.” And I said to him, “Of course, I love the show, I’m a loyal follower of the show,” and he actually told me the day and time. And I just passed through Madrid one day, which was exactly the day of the interview, and the next day I was going on a trip again. I was very happy to do acting.

What is casting for a waitress like? First dates?

They had me simulate a program First dates. I did a little bit of everything and then nothing, I was waiting, I think for about a week, and they told me I was on the program.

What surprised you most the first time you set foot in Love Restaurant?

Well, how realistic it all is. Really, when you enter a group First dates It feels like you are in a real restaurant. I walked in and it was like, “Oh my God, where am I? It’s a restaurant.” You feel like you are in a real restaurant.

Have you ever been a waitress before or did you have to do Chinese training?

Nothing, nothing, first time. Fortunately we had no trays, thank God, only plates. But it was my first time working in hospitality, very well, and I adapted. I look pretty good, and the truth is I haven’t dropped or broken any plates or cups yet (laughs).

What advice did the twins or Matthias give you when you arrived?

The reception has been great. They supported me from the first minute, advising me, guiding me, telling me to be myself, to be normal. They told me I had a lot of charisma and a great desire to learn. It’s little by little, every day you learn something new and adapt to it. They supported me from the first minute, so I am very happy and grateful to them.

Do you have the opportunity to follow appointments closely? Are you someone who loves salsa and knows how it works?

Well, there are all kinds of dates on the show, all kinds of people come, very strange people and you learn a lot of stories. We have a lot of empathy for the people who come to the show and the truth is that yes, we are a bit of a salsa type of guy, and sometimes we like to tease them, “But talk to him about it, but tell him about it.” We always like to watch from afar and pay attention to everything.

It’s common for people on the show’s team to place their own bets on whether there will be a second date or not, what about you?

The truth is that sometimes we are too busy to comment on it, but there are other appointments and yes, yes, we have our own internal debate.

Do people know how to flirt?

Well, it depends on what you call flirting. I think everyone’s way of flirting or communicating depends a lot on the person and of course the taste of the person in front of you. But I think that, people come to the show wanting, above all, to have a good time, and then the outcome depends a little bit on the date you get.

First dates It is a program that has the advantage of showing all types of people, ways of being, clothing or preferences. How did you experience that?

Well, look, I didn’t know there was so much sexuality in the world, so many ways to call love or your sexual state. I’m learning a lot. You tend to open your mind a little more because you see a lot of different stories…for example, polyamory or stories of people who don’t consider themselves to be one gender or another. On the other hand, I wasn’t there yet, but I once saw a girl who said she was from another planet or another dimension. It impresses you so much. And yes, the truth is that every day we open our minds a little more and open up the way we think about love.

They are all different and all searching for the same thing. Does love unite the world?

I think in the end we all love. To me it is the greatest force in the universe. And forgive me for speaking to you in such a poetic way, but in the end you are here for love, and I am here for love. What distinguishes us in our program is that we accept all types of love. There is incredible diversity in the program and that is what makes us unique. We accept everyone who comes who wants to fall in love and wants to live the experience. First dates.

Do you dare to live that experience?

Well, I have a dark past that I lived through back then, a very long time ago (laughs). I was in First dates As a client, in the first year of the program. This is something I haven’t talked about. I’m telling you a secret here, but it’s been too long. I’ve lived it and know what it is. It didn’t go well for me, and the truth is that they didn’t schedule me correctly, but if someone comes to the program and is healthy, it suits me and I like it… Because yes, I have to see a little bit of what it’s like, because blindly, blindly, no.

What did you ask for your date, how would you like your suitor?

Well, I don’t remember because it was a long time ago, honestly. Ultimately, I am a very active person. I can tell you that I will ask him to be blond, with blue eyes, and to be tall, which is typical, but I am active, if I communicate with the person it does not matter to me if he is blond, dark, or has long or short hair. Usually my only request is for it to be loud, please.

What do you want to do on TV?

The truth is, I love this experience. I didn’t think about working in television so quickly because, thank God, I’m doing a good job in the fashion world. I was so focused on my work, but when I had this opportunity and now that I get to see it from the inside, I love it. It’s true that I have to train, because I’m starting from scratch, and I want to keep learning and keep training. I think so First dates It’s like my school every day. Why not? I would like to present a programme. I would love to.

A dream without limits…

Call me a dreamer but with a formula Survivors…I would like to go to Honduras and present from there.

You also have experience, because you were a racer… How do you remember that experience, the weather, the hunger…?

Well, I’ve weathered the storms. I was very lucky because I was on the island for five weeks and when I left it was the start of the storms and the monsoons and all that. Thank goodness. It was a very good experience for me and I learned a lot of things. I had a very strong press release, and my teammates were all the bomb. I agree with them very well. Today I have reached out to many of them. Of course it was a very intense experience because it is true that they strip you of everything and you have to jump out of the helicopter and you don’t know what is going to happen to you in the next few hours and in the next days or months… This uncertainty creates a little bit of anxiety. It’s mental and physical work you have to do before you go to the program, and once you get to the program, every day is a challenge, but I remember it as something very beautiful, and a very special and very important experience in my life.

What did you miss most there? Of civilized life?

For my family 100%. My family and friends were the only thing I remember. I tried not to focus too much on it because then I would break down and get depressed and want to quit the program and give it up. I tried to be strong and focus on “I gotta fish, I gotta do this, I gotta do that,” and follow my routine day in and day out. Without eating you can tolerate, without smoking you can tolerate, without combing your hair, without make-up, without all these things that we can’t seem to live with, you can tolerate. Eventually the body gets used to it. But it is true that when I left the program and after a long time, my mother called me on the phone, I collapsed and couldn’t even talk. From this scream that makes you feel like a child, I can’t breathe. So I missed my family and friends so much.

You live according to your image, what was it like not being able to dress or wear makeup the way you wanted?

Especially since I am a very simple person. You see me here now, I wear makeup and I like to dress well, I love fashion and it’s my job. But I also love wearing a bun, no makeup, with dark circles…that’s part of me too. It’s all very well to wear makeup to feel beautiful, but in the end you also have to be natural.

You have many visible tattoos, is the fashion world more open to that now? It was a bit taboo before, wasn’t it?

Yes, the truth is that, as with the entire fashion world, he was moving forward. Before, if there were two models you liked and one of them had tattoos, the model with tattoos would be eliminated. Not anymore, I don’t have problems when it comes to work. In fact, I’ve worked with global, world-known brands, like Guess, and there are many photos that don’t even remove my tattoo, that is, they see it and it’s like, well, nothing happened, they could retouch it, but they don’t. I think there’s a lot of diversity and acceptance around this topic.

What is the hardest thing about modeling?

The hardest thing for me is feeling lonely, because even though it is a job where we are always surrounded by people, there are many moments when you feel very lonely.

When did you realize that you could live off your beauty?

Well, I started out in this world at a very young age. I was 13 the first time I auditioned, and it was all because of my mother, who sent me some pictures of a modeling competition she’d seen on TV. I won the contest without even knowing it, because I didn’t know that my mother was the one who sent these pictures. It was very funny. They contacted me to take a modeling course, I did and that’s where it all started. After the course they started contacting me for photo shoot jobs. I started in the world of lost and found and when I finished the Miss Spain thing, I decided to move to Madrid and dedicate myself to just this, the world of fashion.

Have you ever had a beauty queen have difficulty answering a question, but this is not common. Is there a lot of bias in the topic of beauty?

Yes, the truth. There was always the saying, “Look how pretty she is, but she’s stupid.” It’s like a logo, but it doesn’t have to be like that at all. When you’re a beauty queen, they look at everything with a magnifying glass and it’s complicated. There is a lot of pressure. I, who have been in this world, tell you that it is very difficult. In fact, I would tell you that it’s harder than fashion itself. You feel intense pressure and intense surveillance. Sometimes you have to take it easy, but there’s a beauty queen who has three jobs and speaks seven languages. Just because you’re beautiful doesn’t mean you have to be stupid, and that’s how we’ve been sold too many times. It really depends on each person’s professional life and the studies they have done. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beauty queen, or if you’re a model, it doesn’t matter, you can get your four doctorates and be a model.

There’s a lot of talk now about mental health. In your profession, how do you maintain your arrogance and criticism?

When you’re a public figure you’re exposed to that and you have to know what’s going to happen. You must be strong-minded and, above all, surround yourself with people who support you and give you strength. I’ve always had the support of my mother, who always told me, “You’re following your dreams, this is your career, this is your world, you like it, go ahead.” Not everyone can love us. Life is like this. I respect everyone’s opinion, but those that I don’t like or that aren’t useful to me or aren’t worth it to me, I try to look the other way, and take it that way.