MIGUEL DE LEÓN

January 16, 2001
TV Program:  El Gordo y La Flaca (U.S.A.)
Reporter:  Celines Toribio

The flame of love between Gabriela Spanic and her husband appears to be more intense than ever before.  Let's listen to one of her secrets for a successful marriage.
Miguel is a very authentic person who genuinely smiles from the heart.  He doesn't confine/control one's freedom.  He doesn't limit my freedom.  He lets me be me.  I behave with my friends -in front of him or behind his back- in the same way, in the same manner.  He trusts me a lot and I trust him.

November 26, 2000
Zoom/El Nuevo Herald (U.S.A.)
Written by:  Alfredo de Armas
Article:  GABRIELA SPANIC:  "I'm a defender of the rose-colored novela"

...You have worked with the most sought-after leading men of the time, Fernando Colunga, Saúl Lisazo, and now Arturo Peniche.  With whom have you felt most at ease?
"With my husband, Miguel, who is also an actor and whom I met in this profession.  Aside from him, all of them have been very professional, very good co-workers.  I can't complain.  The strong scenes have been easy to do because they've been respectful.
"I fell in love with Miguel while working in this business.  Before getting married, we made a promise that if one of us was to get a job offer outside of Venezuela, the other one would not stand in the way.  On the contrary and depending on the circumstances, the other one would leave the way open because there's a lot of trust and communication between us.
"When I fell in love, I had never felt with any actor what I felt when I kissed Miguel.  I had kissed many men previously --I'm referring, of course, to the novelas-- but he was the only one with whom I felt something different, with whom I felt a chemistry that worked"...

November 13-19, 2000
TeleNovela #397 (Spain)

Gabriela Spanic's entertaining wedding anniversary fiesta

"It's as if we were still dating"
Surrounded by their friends, among which was actor Juan Pablo Gamboa, Gabriela Spanic and Miguel de León celebrated their third wedding anniversary.
Since sealing their love before the altar on October 22, 1997, Gabriela Spanic and Miguel de León (both from "La Usurpadora") have turned out to be one of the most solid couples in the world of the telenovelas.  And recently, they celebrated their third wedding anniversary surrounded by friends.  Today Gaby and Miguel will visit our pages to share with their fans the fiesta's most entertaining moments.  A fiesta which lasted until three in the morning.

-Gabriela, what gift did Miguel surprise you with?
With an enormous flower arrangment made up of eight dozen red and blue roses.  He also gave me a camera and a precious handbag.
-What did you give him?
A sports jacket, a shirt and some stylish pants.  That's because Miguel hates to go shopping for clothes and I take advantage of any occasion to buy him some.  Besides, by doing it this way, I get him to dress fashionably because Miguel is very classical.
-A little bird told us you're an excellent cook.  So then, what's the ingredient for a successful marriage?
Miguel and I feel our relationship is as if we were still dating.  That's the most important ingredient:  to not feel tied down.  You should also continuously surprise your husband and be affectionate.  Not always, though.  It's important that every now and then he be the one to seek you out and to ask you for a demonstration that you love him.
-What should you never bring to a relationship?
Mistrust and lack of communication.  I used to be extremely jealous, but now thanks to Miguel, I've learned to trust my husband.
-When you have an argument, the first one to say he or she is sorry is...
Sometimes it's Miguel and sometimes it's me.  No matter how you look at it, I'm the one who blows up the easiest, but my anger spells don't last more than five minutes.  Miguel, who already knows it, leaves me alone until they pass...

Univision.com (U.S.A.)
Article:  Face to face with Gabriela Spanic

Her diet, wishes and plans are revealed to the internet users

We interviewed Gabriela Spanic with the questions asked by you through the Univision.com forum and the Venezuelan actress tells all...
...For those of you who wanted to know about her marriage to Miguel de León, who is also a telenovela actor, Gabriela tells how since kissing her husband in fiction, she has never left his side in real life.  According to her, that's the only kiss she has enjoyed on the small screen.
"I met my husband in "Como Tú Ninguna".  Before that, I had kissed about thirty men in telenovelas and with him, I felt something I had not felt with anyone else.  He's a marvelous person who awoke little butterflies in my stomach.  My heart would just about jump out of my mouth.  I love Miguel and when you love someone and you work in this medium and he also works in this medium, it doesn't feel the same.  Never before had I felt in a scene, with a kiss, what I felt for him and I'm [now] married to him."
-About the stork's visit [someday]...
"Miguel wants a little girl first and I want a boy but whatever God decides, so be it"...

September 18-24, 2000 No. 389
Telenovela (Spain)
Written by:  Raquel Vega
Article:  I finally get to visit Spain

...The hours pass by and nighttime joins our particular visit.  Gabriela's eyes, cheerful and sparkling, make it plain to see the Venezuelan star is happy.  Still, the actress can't stop thinking about someone very special to her, who because of prior working commitments, wasn't able to accompany her.  "Miguel would have loved being here.  He pretty much always accompanies me except that nowadays he's caught up in filming 'Carita de Ángel'.  I'm very proud [of him] because he finally received an opportunity to be the leading male star of a telenovela.  The bad thing about it is, there are lots of young women who want to take him away from me," she confesses between laughs.  "I'm not the jealous type.  I know we both owe our success to the public and I love it that he has admirers.  Besides, jealousy has no reason to exist when you trust your spouse.  Miguel is a very affectionate man, sincere and understanding.  We'll be celebrating our third wedding anniversary within a few days and we feel as if we were living a continuous honeymoon"...

Revista Fama (Mexico)
Article:   Gaby Spanic:  'I'm not worried my husband would be unfaithful'

Newly arrived in Mexico, Gaby Spanic was the one who was famous thanks to the resounding success of the telenovela, "La Usurpadora".  But now it's her husband, Miguel de León, who is also reaping the glories of fame thanks to "Carita de Ángel"...  "It makes me very happy and I feel very proud that he's a successful man and good-looking too," says Gaby who is not fearful that her husband would be unfaithful...  "We trust each other absolutely.  That's why I'm not afraid of an infidelity on my husband's behalf.  I believe in him completely," she assures.  On the other hand, Gaby Spanic commented that the possibility of getting pregnant and having a child is still remote...  "But if that were to happen someday, I would like for my child to be born in Mexico where my husband and I have lived the most beautiful moments of our marital relationship, and I think I'm more in love now than ever before."

Libros y Revistas (U.S.A.)
Written by:  Laura Velázquez
Article:  Gabriela Spanic:  "My husband is a broad-minded man"

...A woman who loves and admires her husband.  Married to fellow actor and countryman Miguel de León, Gaby maintains an excellent marital relationship; especially since there is love and admiration between them:
"I admire my husband a lot because he came from being a leading man in Venezuela, from being a leading male star, to accompany me.  The Mexican marketplace was very interesting to him because he wasn't known in Mexico; Venezuelan novelas aren't shown there.  And I admire him a lot because he has accepted this with a lot of humility.  He entered each production with important roles but not with leading roles until "Carita de Ángel".  But they were intelligent decisions on his part and he took them with a lot of humbleness and seriousness.  And I admire him because in addition to being an excellent professional, he's very open-minded.  Any other man wouldn't have done it and that is worthy of admiration"...

July 3, 2000
TV y Novelas (U.S.A.)
Written by:  Romel Martínez
Article:  Gabriela Spanic would not forgive an infidelity

She has kissed over 30 men in telenovelas and only one awoke the passion of true love in her.  She affirms that her marriage with actor Miguel de León has solidified in 3 years and that she wishes to become a mother, but first she will make a telenovela ("La Intrusa") with Arturo Peniche...
...Gabriela tells how she has counted on Miguel de León, her husband of almost three years, during the most difficult moments of her life.
"In Miguel, I found the equilibrium of my life just as I complement his," she says smiling as she lets out a sigh.
She informs us that in her next telenovela, she will work with Arturo Peniche, whom she admires and respects a lot.  She also confesses that once she finishes filming that production, she will start writing to the stork.
"I believe a woman fully realizes herself when she becomes a mother and I have that 'need'," she says with no holds barred.
She doesn't consider herself a jealous woman.
"I believe in myself and in my husband."

-So then you don't get jealous when you see Miguel kissing another woman in a telenovela?
-No.  I know it's something professional.
-And does he get jealous when he sees you kissing leading men such as Fernando Colunga or Saúl Lisazo?
-No.  No one knows better than Miguel that this is a job.  I have kissed over 30 men in telenovelas and never have I felt anything personal with them.  Miguel was the only one I got butterflies in my stomach with, and the same thing happened to him.
-Yours was a romance [born] out of a telenovela.
-Yes, we started working in a telenovela, and in our personal lives each one had a relationship; but the attraction between us was irresistible.  The romantic scenes were traumatic for me because my love would spill over.  Until we confronted it and decided to end the compromises that kept us from fully living out our love.
-Would you forgive an infidelity?
-No.  If your spouse takes note of another person, it's because they've stopped loving you.  I've told Miguel that if the day ever arrives that he stops loving me, to tell me and I would do the same.  But I would never forgive an infidelity.

July 2000
Cristina La Revista (U.S.A.)
Written by:  Luz María Doria
Article:  The day Gabriela stopped traffic

...Now that we confront a plateful of chips and a second one of french fries, curiosity wins the battle over hunger and I ask her what her diet consists of.
"Of not mixing proteins with carbohydrates," she says dipping a chip in a garlic salsa.   "Today, for example, it's the carbohydrates-only turn.  It's the anti-diet...  I diet from Monday to Saturday and on Sundays I let myself go wild because I love to eat.  Miguel and I sit down to watch television and I can finish off an ice cream container... completely.  Isn't it true, there's nothing more delicious than eating?"
But perhaps Miguel is [more delicious than eating] because it's obvious Gabriela is tremendously in love with him.  While driving across the bridge that unites Miami with South Beach, I take advantage of the romantic scenery and ask her about Miguel, who by the way, stayed behind working in Mexico.  He's as wonderful as always.  He's such a good, good guy...  He's the type that'll prepare breakfast for you and take it to you in bed.  I'm so happy because he just signed a 3-year contract with Televisa," she says very proudly.  "He's going to be the male lead in Carita de Ángel, a telenovela with Lisette Morelos, the female lead from Alma Rebelde."

The luck of working with Lisazo and sleeping with De León...
...There are Venezuelan get-togethers in her Mexican home, where one can easily spot her fellow countrymen Alicia Machado (an actress and former Miss Universe) or Fernando Carrillo (popular actor).  They also read the Venezuelan newspapers over the internet.
"We already feel Mexico is our second home.  If you were to come to my home, you would find get-togethers with Peruvians, Mexicans, Columbians, Venezuelans... from Televisa as well as from TV Azteca.  We like to share with everyone and I love to be in the kitchen preparing for the fiesta.  I make Miguel "pasta a los cuatro quesos" and he loves it."
In fact, it was at her home where they had the fiesta to view the last episode of Por Tu Amor.  It was there where Gaby gathered her two men, Lisazo (her leading man from "Por Tu Amor") and De León.  Was Miguel ever jealous during the filming of the novela?
"Not one bit.  Saúl is the type of man who's always kidding and telling jokes.  He makes you feel immediately comfortable.  If you had gone to the novela's filming, you would have found us eating "torta" and joking during breaks.  He's crazy about his little girl and he adores his wife."

"I have a feeling that man smells good."
Miguel can rest peacefully because there's only one man Gabriela Spanic likes... besides him... and that's Robin Williams.  Of course, she had been platonically in love before with super hero Meteoro and with Guillermo Dávila (popular Venezuelan actor/singer).
"If I were to see Robin Williams in front of me, I don't know what I would do," she tells me relishing her story.  "I think I would put my arms around his neck.  That man is too much.  And those characters he plays!  He's also so uncomplicated, so special...  And you know something?  I have a feeling he smells good.  Miguel doesn't get jealous.  The same thing happens to him with Winona Ryder"...

April 21, 2000
El Sur (Mexico)
Article:  Gaby Spanic returns to the Mexican telenovelas

...Spanic is completely happy sharing her life with husband, Venezuelan actor Miguel de León; especially now that he's received an opportunity to participate in "Carita de Ángel" in a role similar to the one played over 25 years ago by Peruvian actor Ricardo Blume.
"It makes me so happy especially since Miguel's telenovela came about at an unexpected moment.  He already had job proposals from Miami and Venezuela.  Then suddenly, they gave him the one from Televisa which makes me so happy because we're talking about a stellar role."
We ask her next about the closeness that exists between herself and her husband given that both now work and that the on-set calls are even more demanding for actors with stellar roles.
To which she responded that first of all, they're compatible in everything and as such, their relationship is excellent:  "I do everything possible to be with him.  Right now, for example, I'm waiting for him to finish filming so we can at least eat together," she says outside the exit to the set where they're re-creating the story "Mundo de Juguete" (Toy World).
"Sometimes when I'm the one working, he'll be the one waiting for me on the set in order to share some moments together.  We get together whenever there's an opportunity"...

April 1999
People En Español (U.S.A.)
Written by:  Itziar Bilbao
Article:  The many faces of Gabriela Spanic

...In 1993 she debuted on television with secondary roles.  A little while later, she was the leading lady of the famous telenovela Como Tú Ninguna.
This production opened the path to success, money, and love.  It was difficult hiding the chemistry between herself and her leading man, Miguel de León.  In the first bedroom scene, Spanic continued lightly massaging De León's bare chest while he in turn massaged her back... despite the fact the cameras had stopped rolling.  "The director came up to us and said:  'Kids, we finished taping'," recalls De León.  In love with her new leading man, Spanic broke off with actor Jhonny Nessi.  Aware that her old boyfriend had spilled the beans to the man of her dreams, Spanic once again took charge of her destiny.  With tears in her eyes and with her heart about to spill forth, she confessed her love to De León, she says.  The response was like a bucket of cold water.   "It's an honor that a woman such as yourself has fallen in love with me but my life is already complete," declared De León back then, who was living with actress Nubia Quilarque.   "I kept saying, 'Earth, swallow me up'," assures Spanic.
But there was a happy ending to all of this.  Spanic and De León were married in 1997.  In October, she'll possibly start filming her next telenovela with Televisa.  In the meantime, she's enjoying her vacation.  And in 2001, when she finishes her contract with Televisa, Spanic is thinking of realizing another big project:  starting a family.  Before, she wanted six or seven.  Nowadays, she'd be content with four.  Twins?   "I would hope so.  That would be so wonderful."

April 1999
Cristina La Revista (U.S.A.)
Written by:  Giselle Balido & Luz María Doria
Article:  La Usurpadora is pure fire

A passionate forbidden love... A mischievous twin sister... No, it's not the plotline for La Usurpadora.  It's the leading lady, Gabriela Spanic's, real life.

It's three o'clock in the afternoon.  Cristina la Revista's complete team arrives at a park, that looks more like paradise than a park, in Dania, Florida.  In the van, mixed in with the photographer, the makeup person, the wardrobe person, the cameras, the lighting, the Art Director, Miguel --her handsome husband--, and the clothes is Gabriela Spanic.  The ratings queen in the U.S. and Mexico has been trying on clothes and makeup since ten o'clock in the morning.  Not one complaint.  Not one demand.  It's as if she weren't a star...

...While the team sets up the cameras, the umbrellas and the lighting, Gabriela walks towards the beach with her magnificent husband, Miguel.  He played the millionaire Douglas Maldonado in the novela.  In real-life, he's an ex-treme-ly-in-love husband, who with his 270 dollar camera, captures every movement of his Gabriela.  There are few actresses who can say their private life is as exciting as the telenovela drama they play the lead in.  The leading lady of La Usurpadora is one of them.  Gaby met her husband, leading man Miguel de León, while both were filming Como Tú Ninguna in their native Venezuela.  And true to the best dramatic script, she didn't like him at all in the beginning.
"Away from the camera, he seemed conceited to me," she confessed.  But as the story's drama heated up... "I began noticing he was very chivalrous and very attentive to minor details with me.  When we filmed a scene where he carries me in his arms and he takes me to bed, I realized I was in love with him."  But since they were both in committed relationships, "I spent my time trying to avoid meeting him.  We were both afraid of each other.  We almost, almost stopped talking to each other.  I thought I was in love alone, but I broke up with my boyfriend anyway."
In a move reminiscent of a novela, her ex-boyfriend told Miguel that Gabriela loved him.  She did her part and told him she loved him... and the rest is history.  "He ended his relationship and we've been together three years; almost two as a married couple."  But let it be clear that Spanic is not an usurper.  "Miguel didn't break off his relationship for me.  The relationship hadn't worked for some time..."

...Returning permanently to Venezuela is not an option at the moment:  Gabriela signed an exclusive three-year contract with Televisa.  In October, she'll begin filming her next novela ("Por Tu Amor") making it essential that Miguel also establish himself as an actor in Mexico.  Is it difficult being employed while your spouse tries to open himself a path in a medium as difficult as television?
"We're both professionals and we understand this career is cyclical.  Miguel is a respected actor.  In order to come here, he rejected a novela in Miami and another one in Venevisión.  He's done special guest appearances, like in the novela Gotita de Amor where he was the little girl's father.  A lot of producers have expressed interest in him, but there's nothing concrete," she says.  "We give each other a lot of support and we would love working together in the future," confesses Gaby.
On a personal note, Gabriel and Miguel are anxious to start a family, "I want to have four and to begin in 2001," she says.  For the moment, she dedicates herself to doing promotional trips--to Chile, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica--for the telenovela and to preparing herself for the next one which could be called La Otra (The Other One) or La Inolvidable (The Unforgettable).
The shooting ends at six-thirty in the afternoon.  Gabriela and Miguel return to the van holding hands.  They seem like the perfect couple.  They deserve, just like in the novelas they star in, to have their love last forever.

Vol. 20 No. 244
¡Entérese! (U.S.A.)
Written by:  Laura Velázquez
Article:  Gabriela Spanic:  "I have a twin sister in real-life..."

...THE LOVE OF HER LIFE
In fact, without fighting with her sister, Miguel arrived into Gabriela's life.  An actor just like herself, he's now the man of her life.  And also, according to Spanic herself, her soulmate!:
"I, thank God, have a marvelous man by my side who fills all my expectations as a woman.  It's a beautiful love, a true love.  I thought I had fallen in love before but when I discovered this, I said to myself:  'My God, how rich, what pleasure!  How beautiful for love to exist!'  And this that I feel for Miguel is from the heart, from the soul.  He's my soulmate, definitely."
A man who left his career behind in Venezuela to accompany Gabriela to Mexico and who was her co-star in the telenovela that brought them together.
"We met in the profession while making a telenovela.  We were the protagonists.  But I knew him from before, from the hallways when we would pass by.  We would greet each other but there'd be no other conversation.  And when I found out he was going to be in the novela as my co-star, I opposed it.  He had done a character before, very fresh, very stuck-up; and I thought he was like that.  That's why, believe me, I disliked him intensely.  I think the tongue is the body's punishment, because as a result, he turned out to be the man of my life and he continues to be so today."
Gabriela's eyes light up when she talks about Miguel, who also had a special role in "La Usurpadora".  At her side, he stands by her at all times.
"I was worried because I thought we weren't going to have any chemistry as a couple [in the novela], but we did.  In fact, he did so many wonderful little things for me, he was so galant!  That smile of his that I later discovered... my stockings would fall down.  He's a marvelous man in every sense of the word.  Even though we had nothing to do with each other, at the time, because we each had a relationship.  But we didn't end our relationships just to be together.  The relationships fell apart by themselves even though we were already in love with each other by then.  It was after we finished the telenovela and after a while, that we began our relationship.  And that's how it continues to be."

Vol. 19 No. 248
¡Entérese! (U.S.A.)
Article:  Gabriela Spanic:  "I don't pursue success for success' sake"

...HOLLYWOOD?
She denies that her biggest wish is to become internationally-known through Hollywood given that it was the telenovelas that gave her her image/fame.
"I don't wish for it, I don't seek it.  If it comes, it comes.  I'm tranquil, happy, because the telenovela actors have the same degree of fame as any Hollywood actor."
About her husband, she mentions he is happy with the success she's obtained and that he gives her all his support.
"I thank God for giving me such a marvelous man.  He was a top-notch leading man in Venezuela and he's here with me.  He rejected a novela in Venezuela even though I advised him to do it, that it would be good for him, but his response was very convincing... that he would remain with me," she said.

Vol. 19 No. 242
¡Entérese! (U.S.A.)
Written by:  Rolando Rondón Rodés
Article:  Gabriela Spanic:  "I didn't take Thalía's job away"

...ROMANCE WITH FERNANDO COLUNGA
Usually, the press and the rumors intimately link the romantic leading stars of a telenovela.  Did anything take place between Spanic and her co-star Colunga?
"With Fernando--says Gabriela--, I got along very well and no, thank God, the press didn't invent any romance or anything.  Everyone knows that.  And the truth is, I'm amazed it didn't happen.  I mean, that they didn't invent any stories.  But I think it was due to everyone knowing, from the first moment, that I was coming accompanied by my husband and that Fernando also had a girlfriend."
But Gabriela doesn't turn her back on rumors.  She herself knows that a real-life romance can be born from a fictional romance on a set.  She knows it very well because it's based on her own experience.  She explains:
"From my own experience, I say to you yes, the press doesn't always invent things and many times it's not too far away from the truth when it talks about romances between actors.  I say to you yes because look, I myself... my marriage is a result of that.  I met my husband in the telenovela "Como Tú, Ninguna".  He was the protagonist and look, sometimes, contrary to what most people think, it's easier for a love relationship to develop from a hostile professional relationship than the reverse.  People start weaving stories about actors who get along 'very well' in a novela... as much in front of the camera as away from it.  But, I don't know, maybe it's because of what they say... that opposite poles attract... sometimes romances are born from not getting along.  I confess I "super" disliked my nowadays-husband when he was acting with me in the telenovela I was telling you about.  He was super-inflated and I couldn't stand him.  And look, it turns out I ended up marrying him.  And when they offered me "La Usurpadora", he said it was a very juicy proposition and he stood by me in everything.  He said it was a very interesting offer because of the dual roles, and that's the way everything turned out..."

1997
Venevisíon Estrenos y Estrellas Online (Venezuela)
Article:  Face to face with Gabriela Spanic:  Una Cosa Divina

...As a woman, what are Gabriela Spanic's wishes?
I want to get married.  I feel the time has arrived.  I'm going to marry the love of my life, Miguel de León.  A man who knows how to value a woman.  I don't like macho men; they annoy me.  It's difficult to find, in this day and age, a galant man who'll open the door for you, who'll help you, who'll accompany you, who'll value you as a woman, as a professional, who'll respect you.  A man who'll say to you:  if you get an offer outside of Venezuela, go, because it's your career first.  And that's what Miguel is like.
How many children would you like to have?
My grandmother had 11 children.  I would like to follow in her footsteps and have a very large family but nowadays with the [economic] situation being so bad, I would like to have four or five.  Miguel only wants three.
What are Gabriela Spanic's hobbies?
Going to the movies.  I like to cook and so does Miguel; so then we cook together.  The problem is neither one of us likes to wash dishes.  I also love to ride on horseback like a good plainswoman.