Almost a decade after making her television debut, Valentina Bandeira has seen her career grow since last year, with work on TV, in films and especially on the web, where she has achieved great success. As well as making videos for her YouTube channel, she has just made her debut as the presenter of the new version of “Beija sapo”, a classic MTV show that originally aired between 2005 and 2007 and has been revamped on the channel, thanks to an initiative by Tinder, the popular dating app.
– The repercussions are enormous. Casimiro (Miguel, presenter, streamer and influencer) reacted to the show and loved it. For me, it was the best. A year ago, I was watching his lives like a superfan, and now he’s reacting to one of my shows. It’s really incredible,” says Valentina.
She already presented the podcast “Match o papo”, also produced by Tinder for the networks, and says that when she received the invitation to do “Beija sapo”, she felt she was fully prepared for the challenge:
– The podcast was very successful and was scaling and going viral. Tinder then acquired the rights to “Beija sapo”. They invited me to present. I, in all modesty, thought at the time: “I don’t think there’s anyone in Brazil today with more experience than me to do this” (laughs). I have a history in television and the internet, and the idea was to do something intermedia, connecting these two worlds.
One of the episodes of his podcast, in fact, gave rise to a romance that even led to a song and whose ending recently stopped the country and the internet: that of Chico Moedas and Luísa Sonza. She met him after an interview he gave to Valentina. When the break-up was announced live by the singer on “Mais Você”, many fans joked that the actress was to blame:
– My name was very much in evidence in this story and, for me, everything is a joke. As much as Luísa is going through a difficult and sad time, I think the joke helps her to work through it. That’s what I’m all about: the joke as a way of helping her deal with everything. And it was also perfect for helping to publicize the show. We’re talking about show business (laughs).
29 year old, Valentina says she’s not surprised by her success, because she’s worked hard to achieve it:
– It’s been a long road. I’ve been doing theater since I was 12, working hard. Everything that’s happening now has been sown for a long time. Of course, it’s a very complex experience to be successful. I was more insecure because I was being seen and demanded so much. It’s something I’ve been working on in my analysis. At the same time, it’s all very good, what I’ve always dreamed of. And I’ve been able to enjoy working. Before, I put so much pressure on myself that I had to get there that I couldn’t enjoy myself.
Professional recognition, she adds, has also had an impact on her self-esteem:
– I never had a very good relationship with my beauty and things like that. I had a phobia and panic about feeling beautiful, for many personal reasons and also because I’m a comedian and I didn’t want people to sexualize me. I wanted to conquer everything without beauty being involved. Now that I’m in my thirties, I’m starting to allow myself to like myself more in this sense and access that.
She says she’s currently single.
– I’m roaming around and enjoying the burr of all this madness that’s happening in my life,” she says.