Emmy award winning journalist Maria Celeste Arrarás celebrated her 30th on-air anniversary with a trip down memory lane on her Telemundo program ‘Al Rojo Vivo’ this week.
Arrarás, who began her career in 1986 in her native Puerto Rico, kicked off a three-day celebration last Wednesday with the much-anticipated on-set reunion with her ex-Univision Network cohost and friend Myrka Dellanos.
“We both have goose bumps, but you are not seeing things!” Arrarás assured her audience on the show.
The reunion is a real dream come true for fans of the charismatic duo who through the 90s captured the hearts of the Hispanic television audience in the United States and Latin America with their daily news magazine program ‘Primer Impacto’, until Arrarás’s exit from Univision in 2002.
“So many people have been asking to see us on camera together, this was the perfect opportunity to do that,” Dellanos said.
When Dellanos, who now lives in Los Angeles, was proposed the reunion idea by producers of ‘Al Rojo Vivo’ she immediately set aside her schedule for the exciting opportunity to fly to Miami to celebrate with her friend.
“First of all, I wanted to honor Mari and then to reunite on-set in a live show was icing on the cake!” Dellanos said.
14 years is a long time, but neither time nor distance has broken their on-air magic fans so fondly remember, and more importantly their friendship has remained intact.
“You had to be here because you were my friend and colleague for one-third of my career and I’m grateful you are here” Arrarás told Dellanos on-air.
At the request of producers Dellanos took over the program to usher in some surprises for her friend Maria Celeste, including a special visit and performance from reggaeton artist Farruko.
During the span of 30 years Maria Celeste Arrarás has become one of the best-known figures in Hispanic television. She serves as editorial director of her daily program ‘Al Rojo Vivo’ and also co-anchors the Telemundo network news alongside Jose Diaz-Balart.
She has interviewed leading figures in the world of politics, culture and show business and was named one of the 20 Most Powerful women of the Next Generation by Newsweek in 2009.
When asked by Dellanos what she would tell her younger self about what life was going to be like in the future, Arrarás responded, “I would tell her that an exciting life awaits and that her hard work would yield success and most importantly to do exactly what I did.“
Congratulations to Maria Celeste!
