“I take every challenge I face very seriously… And there have been some really cool ones!” The speaker is Joaquín, the Betis star and now a television star after taking charge of the program Joaquín, el Novato and surprising audiences with unusual audiences for these times and, above all, for precisely that, a ‘rookie’.

He grants few interviews, but his success with the Antena 3 program has given him so much that he cannot say no. “What I want is to have fun! And if people have a good time with me, then even better. That is true success for me. But, come on, I’m not going to deceive you either: 29.5% of the first program (now that I understand a little more about the audience) I never expected it in my life. It was a blast,” he proudly assures us.

A couple of years ago Proamagna and Atresmedia had an idea that must have been on many minds for quite some time: What if we put Joaquín in charge of a program? At that time, Joaquín was still playing soccer and his only connection with television was that every time he went to a program the ratings skyrocketed. And that is the key: Joaquín eats up the screen. In each of his television appearances the number of viewers skyrockets. His self-confidence, his humor, his closeness are engaging. Why wouldn’t he run his own program?

“We always think that Joaquín is a television value because he is a character very loved by the public and for his ability to connect with viewers,” says Carmen Ferreiro, Director of Entertainment at Atresmedia TV, and the person responsible for Joaquín entering through the door. big on television. “He is a person with whom the viewer identifies because he is natural, empathetic, has an innate sense of humor and manages the times very well when he is telling something or talking to someone in front of a camera,” she explains.

I still feel that television is a hobby, not a job. I didn’t want to be obsessed with the audience

The start of its first season was “amazing” and in its second season, released less than three weeks ago, Joaquín, el Novato, although it has not reached those figures of almost 30% of screen share, is managing to remain firm in one night, Thursday night, where he has to fight against two of the great television formats: MasterChef Celebrity and GH VIP.

“For us, starting with a 13% share has been a great achievement,” they say from Atresmedia, “because El Novato is a smaller interview format, while it is facing the two great entertainment assets of La 1 and Telecinco, and we have achieved that the program is doing practically the same thing.”

Although the audiences are not as spectacular as those of the first season, Joaquín, el Novato does not only have the objective of leading Thursday nights or adding more than two million viewers in front of the television. If he achieves them, great, but the reason for having Joaquín in a program like this responds to a simpler question, but also more difficult to construct: giving the viewer a program that is pure white entertainment, without more.

Joaquín’s sincerity proves it: “I still see television as a hobby, not as a job. I didn’t want to be obsessed with the audience. In fact, the producer of the program always laughs at me because he doesn’t understand that I continue sleeping when I sleep. sends the hearing of the previous day at 8 in the morning sharp”.

Indeed, the program is a hobby for Joaquín and Proamagna created it with that idea. An interview show, where Joaquín brings out all his power with the interviewees and where he plays not only trying to become an actor, presenter or gymnast, but his main asset is that whoever sits in front of him enjoys and opens up to the viewer without thinking. whether what he is going to say is going to go down well or badly.

He is the cornerstone of the program and the key to the success of a format like El Novato

“Joaquín is no longer such a novice!” says Javier Ruiz, director of the program. “In fact, this season the viewer is going to notice a big change in him,” he reveals and adds the key to the success of the format: “Joaquín knows how to create the perfect climax at every moment. He is the cornerstone of the program and the key to the success of a format like El Novato”.

That climax that the former footballer knows how to create so well is the fourth leg of this robust table: who wouldn’t want to sit with Joaquín? An interview with him means that the interviewee shines in all his splendor. None of the characters who come to the program come out badly, quite the opposite. The kindest side is shown, the best. Joaquín does not look for loopholes or put any of his guests in any trouble. So much so that he has gotten one of the interviews that any presenter or journalist would kill for: Ibai Llanos and Piqué in the same chair and it will be this season. Only Jordi Évole had managed to interview the streamer. That’s where it is.

In fact, the attraction it generates is so great that Joaquín has been the first to get Ana Obregón for this season, even snatching her away from his great friend Pablo Motos. And they are not the only bombs. Roberto Leal has sat with Joaquín and there are still many left, such as Paco León, Bárbara Rey, Sonsoles Ónega, Manu Carrasco or Almudena Cid. And it is the latter’s interview that, as the program director reveals, is the most special of this season: “I think that Almudena Cid’s was very special; for the emotional interview he gave us and for seeing Joaquín doing an exercise of rhythmic gymnastics… and embroider it!”

But not everything seems so simple. Making a program with guests of this category and where it is not only the interview but the recreation afterwards with Joaquín trying to embroider the professions of his guests, involves a lot of work that both Joaquín and the team strive to make it as simple as possible .

“The biggest difficulty is that you have to work each installment from scratch. The guest and his profession mark the entire program. In fact, one episode has nothing to do with another. We have to adapt the entire structure to the character and what he is doing to teach Joaquín: from the location where we recorded, to the learning process and the final debut. The creativity of the team is fundamental,” says Ruiz.

But Joaquín does not care nor does he get tired of the hours and hours of recording that he coordinates with his now new duties at Betis. For him, each program is a gift that carries great responsibility, even more than a Copa del Rey final: “Ugh, I don’t think they can be compared. In a top-level competition like La Liga, La Europa Ligue or the Copa of the King there is an impressive pressure, but the responsibility is shared with 10 other colleagues. On television, when you are the presenter and the camera turns on, you feel that all the responsibility is yours. And that shows.”