On September 11, 1998, Telecinco premiered ‘Club Disney’ in a special gala from Eurodisney at 9:30 p.m.. This may not seem particularly noteworthy, but the truth is that for Spanish television it was a before and after: a private channel had stolen a program from the public channel, where it was broadcast for ten years. They even kept their three main presenters: David Carrillo, Jordi Cruz and Vanessa Martyn. But among its novelties, one stood out above the rest: a new 13-year-old presenter named Elena Jiménez… who, shortly after, we lost track of. And is that, what happened to Elena Jiménez?
Goo, goo!
Born on May 10, 1985 (to translate it, she is now 37 years old) in Madrid, Elena grew up near an air base, without her parents being involved in it in any way. The sound of the planes heralded his future. Although it is a future that could already be guessed: in the raffles he did not ask for stuffed animals or dolls, but shotguns. But we are not going to make spoilers. Long before all of that, she landed a position at ‘Club Disney’ after a massive casting call. In fact, her last test was done by her coming home from school, dressed in a Carrefour tracksuit. The producers of the show must have seen something in her and she went on to be a regular presenter for the next five yearssurviving the departure of David Carrillo (who was replaced by Jimmy Castro) and Jordi Cruz.
The great novelty of this ‘Disney Club’ is that it was no longer recorded, but strictly live. The key, according to the presenter herself in an interview on Jordi’s Twitch, was that she always saw it as a game that she never took too seriously, something her parents pushed her to. “Go to TV to play”, go her. Not everything was a bed of roses. According to what she confessed to ‘Socialité’, on her day she suffered bullying for doing the program, although, luckily, it did not affect her too much: “They pricked me, they told me that if she was a cool girl, the one on television … I did have my moments of getting into a bathroom and being left alone“.
During ‘Club Disney’, whose stage lasted until 2002, Elena also took the opportunity to appear in ‘Hermanas’ and ‘Central Hospital’ in her spare time from filming. Then, the big question: return to anonymity or devote himself to television? After more than 400 biweekly live episodes, his would be a break, right?
dogs and cats
In 2003, Elena Jiménez signed for ‘Ana y los seven’, where she was in almost all seasons (except the first) as Bea, one of Amalia’s friends. 30 episodes out of 91, not bad for a supporting role. In 2004 his only jump to the cinema came, in ‘Cachorro’, by Miguel Albaladejo, where his character barely made it to a cameo. In fact, she was called “Friend 14 years”. For whatever reason, not having your own name is not usually synonymous with an exquisite role.
He went through ‘My adorable neighbors’, two episodes of ‘The Commissioner’ where he ended up being the victim of a sect. And, at the same time, he began to present an animal program on Telecinco on weekends: ‘Kombai & Co’, along with Carlos Castel. 143 programs that, added to those of ‘Club Disney’, already wanted many professionals.
Elena’s last attempt to continue on television was at the beginning of Cuatro, when everything was still beautiful and full of possibilities. ‘Corta-t’ lasted nine episodes in 2005 and was never heard from again. In fact, it is possible that a hole has just been opened in your memory. Since then, the disappearance has been almost total beyond a small appearance on shows like ‘Ládrame mucho’ or the ‘Guerra 3’ podcast. Then, one day in 2015, a video made a surprise appearance on the internet celebrating the woman’s 25th year in the military. There Elena would come out saying “The type of weapons that I like and this type of life can only be had in the Army”. boom.
Sergeant Jimenez
In a turn of events few of us saw coming when he yelled “Groop, goo!” in Telecinco, the actress and presenter has become a First Sergeant of the Air Force with a specialty in Weapons. As she herself has confessed, at first the rest of the cadets believed that she was there to find out how to interpret a role, but nothing could be further from her true purpose: fulfill the dream of his life.
In fact, once she finished high school, what she wanted was not to become an actress, but a police officer… And she knew that within the army they keep positions for the opposition. The problem with her perfect plan is that she fell in love with an F18 fighter pilot, like this was the real life version of ‘Top Gun’, and there she stayed. More, even, than her current husband (at her wedding there were planes passing over her and the wedding photos won international awards), with whom he has two children. A “what happened to?” Full blown, with a surprise twist.
We can talk about all kinds of nostalgia you want, but that of the ‘Disney Club’, the “We’re all going to have a pirate time” and others marked the 90s for many of us. Elena Jiménez claims to be happy in her life and, frankly, we pirates wouldn’t want another ending to her story.
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