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Ana Obregón
Born	Ana Victoria García Obregón (1955-03-18) 18 March 1955 (age 69) Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Alma mater	Complutense University of Madrid
Occupation(s)	Actress, television presenter, socialite
Children	2 (1 son and 1 granddaughter)

Ana Victoria García Obregón (born 18 March 1955), better known as Ana Obregón, is a Spanish actress, television presenter, and socialite. Obregón has appeared in European and American films but she is best known for her high-profile personal life and her career as a television presenter –hosting shows such as ¿Qué apostamos?–, and as a television actress –starring in television series such as Ana y los 7 and A las once en casa [es]–.

Education

She obtained a master's degree in biology, specializing in zoology, from the Complutense University of Madrid and a Master of Business Administration in construction and real estate companies.

Career

She made her film debut in 1979 and had an international film career with several films of medium resonance. She is best known to American audiences for her role as Bo Derek's sidekick in Bolero (1984). She also starred in Jules Verne's Mystery on Monster Island (1981) and the 3-D action adventure film Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983) with Tony Anthony. She also appeared in an episode of Who's the Boss? –playing Ana, Tony Micelli's Italian cousin– and in an episode of The A-Team.

In the mid-1980s she began her career in television in Spain. Between 1993 and 1998 she hosted the prime-time game show ¿Qué apostamos? along with Ramón García on Televisión Española (TVE). The success with this show allowed her to host numerous television galas and special shows from then on. On 14–15 October 1994, she hosted –along with Francisco [es]– the 23rd edition of the OTI Festival at Teatro Principal in Valencia. The event was transmitted live to the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) member broadcasters via satellite. She hosted on TVE the broadcast of the New Year's Eve clock bell strikes live from Puerta del Sol in Madrid to welcome 1995 –along with Joaquín Prat–, 1996 –with Ramón García–, 2005 –with Ramón García–, 2021 –with Anne Igartiburu– and 2023 –with Los Morancos–. She also hosted that broadcast on Antena 3 to welcome 2000 –with Pedro Rollán–.

She made a career as a television actress, participating in series such as Hostal Royal Manzanares (1996–1997) and A las once en casa [es] (1998–1999). In 2002, she created, scripted and starred in the series Ana y los 7. This series achieved great audience success, adding a total of 91 episodes in five seasons, and had remakes in Portugal, Mexico, Italy and Chile.

She has participated as a contestant in season seven of ¡Mira quién baila!, in season four of MasterChef Celebrity and as a panelists in season three of Mask Singer: Adivina quién canta.

In the gossip press

A staple of the Spanish prensa rosa or gossip press, Obregón is also famous in Spain and Britain for a long relationship with Croatia striker Davor Šuker as well as a supposed liaison with the Real Madrid and England international football player David Beckham. This led to a spat with Beckham's wife Victoria. Obregón later denied any sexual misconduct on her part, but sued instead.

Controversies

Obregón was one of Jeffrey Epstein's clients at his consulting firm, Intercontinental Assets Group Inc. (IAG). In 1982 Epstein, then a high-level bounty hunter, helped her to recover her father's millions in lost investments, which had disappeared when Drysdale Government Securities collapsed because of fraud.

Obregón found herself in the midst of controversy in 2007 following information disclosed by Interviú, and subsequently published by the major newspapers in Spain: according to said media, an ostensibly distraught Obregón allegedly called her bodyguard Eloy Sánchez Barba in order to ask him to hire third parties to beat up or physically assault journalist Jaime Cantinzano, in reprisal for what she deemed an unacceptable public exposure of her teenage son. According to these sources of information, she said: "...but I don't want this done by just anyone, I want you to have los Miami doing this", in reference to a well-known criminal group established mainly in Madrid. Unbeknownst to her and Sánchez Barba, the latter's telephone line had been tapped by the Spanish police in connection to their investigation of a hit job presumably coordinated by Sánchez Barba months before.

Personal life

In 2020, she lost her only son, Alejandro Alfonso (Aless) Lequio, to cancer. In 2021, she also lost her mother to old age. Following the deaths of her mother and son, she exited the entertainment industry.

On 20 March 2023, Obregón became the grandmother of a girl, whom she named Ana Sandra (Analé) Lequio Obregón, by surrogacy. She later revealed that the girl was fathered by her deceased son, who preserved samples of his sperm before beginning cancer treatment, and the ovum of a donor. Ana Sandra was born at the Memorial Regional Hospital in Florida. Although surrogacy is illegal in Spain, adopting a child born abroad is lawful. In an interview with ¡Hola! magazine in May 2023, Obregón referred to Ana Sandra as her "granddaughter".

Selected filmography

Film

Television series

Television shows

Notes

1. She was also going to welcome 2022 with Anne Igartiburu, but she had to be replaced by Jacob Petrus [es] after testing positive for coronavirus.

References

1. "Ana Obregón muestra (por fin) su título de Biología en Twitter". El Mundo (in Spanish). 8 March 2017.
2. ^ Rus, Óscar (17 May 2020). "Los programas y series que definen la carrera televisiva de Ana Obregón". ABC (in Spanish).
3. Tapiador, María (17 August 2023). "Así era '¿Qué apostamos?', el concurso de Ramón García y Ana Obregón que contaba con famosos extranjeros para sus pruebas". 20 minutos (in Spanish).
4. "Flores, luz, amor... y OTI". El País (in Spanish). 17 October 1994.
5. "Todos los vestidos de Ana Obregón en las Campanadas". RTVE (in Spanish). 27 December 2022.
6. "Los remakes internacionales de 'Ana y los 7': Así era Ana en otros países". formulaTV (in Spanish). 18 March 2019.
7. Beckham Exclusive: Posh off!", The Mirror, 15 December 2005, accessed 29 October 2009.
8. "Actress's threat to sue Posh", The Mirror, 17 December 2005, accessed 29 Oct 2009.
9. Patterson, James; Connolly, John (October 10, 2016). "Chapter 26". Filthy Rich: A Powerful Billionaire, the Sex Scandal that Undid Him, and All the Justice that Money Can Buy: The Shocking True Story of Jeffrey Epstein. Little, Brown. p. 320. ISBN 9780316362450.
10. Kornbluth, Jesse (July 9, 2019). "I was a friend of Jeffrey Epstein; here's what I know". Salon. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
11. Herron, Janna; McCoy, Kevin (July 14, 2019). "From private island to private jet: What is 'billionaire' Jeffrey Epstein's net worth?". USA Today. Gannett. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
12. Herraiz, Pablo (January 13, 2009). "La Policía lleva 15 años desarticulando a 'Los Miami'" [The Police have spent 15 years bringing the "Los Miami" structure down]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Vol. 6, no. 940. Mundinteractivos, S.A. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
13. Marlasca, Manuel; Rendueles, Luis (26 May 2008). "Ana Obregón ordena dar una paliza a Cantizano" [Ana Obregón attempts to have Jaime Cantizano beaten up]. Interviú (in Spanish). Grupo Zeta. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
14. "Ana Obregón pidió a su escolta que diera una paliza a Cantizano, según 'Interviú'" [Ana Obregón asked her bodyguard to have Cantizano beaten up, according to 'Interviú']. 20 Minutos (in Spanish). 26 May 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
15. Sánchez Barba, Eloy (May 27, 2008). "Jaime Cantizano sabía que Ana Obregón quería darle "una lección"" [Jaime Cantizano knew Ana Obregón planned on teaching him 'a lesson']. Noticias cada día (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
16. ^ "Spanish TV star reveals surrogate baby was conceived using late son's sperm". The Independent. 2023-04-06. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
17. "68-year-old actress reveals baby was fathered by dead son". BBC News.
18. "Ana Obregón cumple con la última voluntad de Aless y nos presenta a su nieta, Ana Sandra". HOLA (in Spanish). 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2023-06-10.

External links

• Ana Obregón at IMDb

• 1955 births
• Living people
• Actresses from Madrid
• Spanish film actresses
• Spanish television presenters
• Complutense University of Madrid alumni
• Spanish television actresses
• OTI Festival presenters
• Spanish women television presenters
• Spanish socialites