How he defines himself: «I’m the pot and mattress manTO”. How others define him: “I don’t know about the others. But still today, when I enter in the studios of Cologno Monzese to shoot a teleshopping, they put a little contract under my nose that says “artist”. This has always made me smile, because it is the same profession that you would attribute to Picasso or Van Gogh. Let’s say that the term “entertainment professional”, even for contracts, would be more correct».
It’s been more than twenty years since George Mastrotahe does not run programs of his own. Nevertheless, thanks to teleshopping and telepromotions of pots and mattresses, “to which have been added those of the recliners”, his is still one of the most recognizable television faces. It is difficult to find an Italian over forty who, passing him on the street, does not recognize him. In 1998, the news of the separation from Natalia Estrada ended up in the headlines of Tg5 in the evening. Last September, after eleven years of dating, he married Floribeth Gutierrez, mother of two of his four children, and hardly anyone noticed. In a few weeks he will be 59 years old.
His life changed when he won the 1988 edition of the “Most Beautiful in Italy” competition.
«Everything piloted, I was recommended».
Are you kidding?
‘Not at all. Gianfranco Funari, who was president of the jury of the competition held in Loano, called me to participate with the guarantee that I would win. The problem is that besides me, who was recommended by the part of the jury who came from television, there was another recommended by the world of cinema. His name was Caveri, I don’t know what happened to him».
How did they come out?
“By multiplying the prizes. Caveri “the most beautiful in Italy”, Mastrota “the ideal man”».
When had he met Funari?
«Preface: I come from a family that had nothing to do with the world of entertainment. Calabrian father from Civita, Arbereshe origins, high school in Naples, then an insurer in Milan; Venetian mother, housewife. In 1988 I had already left my business economics studies at Bocconi and enrolled in political science. Andrea, who is still one of my best friends today, goes as a competitor in the Game of couples, hosted by Marco Predolin, and brings a photograph of me to the authors, including Marco Balestri».
Do they take her too?
«They give me some tests and in the end they reject me. But they suggest that I go do photo-novels at the “Grand Hotel”: one hundred thousand lire a day, just think that I used to earn four thousand as a setter at the tennis club downstairs. Then, also thanks to the photo novels, together with Federica Panicucci I began to be a “boy sponsor” in the “Smile” program, hosted by Gerry Scotti. Fininvest decides to send some of us to study theater, to learn how it was on stage. Besides me and Panicucci, just to mention another name, there was also Simona Ventura».
Yes but Funari?
“The wife of Alberto Tagliati, at the time director of the Grand Hotel, referred me to Gianfranco. “Look, that Mastrota, as well as handsome, is also awake”. So I start working with Funari and, since he got along very well with me, he comes up with the gimmick of taking me to the “Bello d’Italia”, of which he was president of the jury. And so, after becoming “The Ideal Man” in 1988, they make me conduct “The Ideal Woman” and the following year “Improvvisando”, together with Ramona Dell’Abate, always on Rai».
Cachet?
«Eight hundred thousand lire per episode for eight episodes. Total: six million four hundred thousand lire. The program was done in Saint-Vincent and I stayed at the Billia hotel, the one with the casino. Convinced that the treatment was all inclusive, I began to indulge in each of what, until then, I had considered unattainable luxuries. I tried the smoked salmon, never tasted before, and it was smoked salmon at all times. An imperceptible stain on the shirt? Ready to go, I called the laundry service of the grand hotel and after an hour the clean shirt arrived. When I leave, at the reception they hand me a bill for 4 million. And given that the six million plus salary from Rai would arrive after a few weeks, my father was forced to rush from Milan to Saint-Vincent to write a check and get me to leave».
When are soap operas coming?
«Two years later, in 1991. In the meantime Tiziana Martinengo, who is still a friend of mine today, had called me to Fininvest to act as correspondent for Patrizia Rossetti’s programmes. At a certain point, in Cologno they began to look for an Italian face for the South American telenovelas which at the time had a resounding success, those with Grecia Colmenares and Jorge Martinez. They asked me if by chance I spoke Spanish and I said yes, “of course I do”».
Was it true?
‘Not at all. I knew that at the Sormani Library, which I already attended as a political science student, they had the audiotapes of the Spanish language courses. I locked myself in there for a few weeks without saying anything to anyone. Then I left for Buenos Aires to play the character of Marcello Negri in the telenovela “Manuela”».
Without those tapes, he would never have married Natalia Estrada. Or not?
«In 1992 I was given the lead of “Beauties in the bathroom”, Fininvest’s answer to “Games without frontiers”. Italian-Spanish production: I hosted the version that was broadcast on Canale 5, together with Patrizia Rossetti; Natalia the one broadcast in Spain by Telecinco. This happened in the summer. We were already married in December, Natalia junior would arrive in 1995».
How was the separation?
‘Difficult. Liked, wanted, loved, married: all in a very rapid sequence, like a blaze that burns one thing after another. The end of the marriage was such a sensational event that it ended up in the headlines of Tg5. But the suffering of the post was also accelerated. You know, when everyone knows something, you leave the house and you get words of comfort from anyone: the passer-by, the newsagent, the butcher. And go first».
Seen up close, what were the giants of commercial TV like?
“Never met someone with the humility of Raimondo Vianello. That half bow that he reserved for the viewer was the same one with which he approached the costume designers, the seamstresses, the studio assistants, the concierge boys. Sandra Mondaini treated me as if I were her child, always loving. When teleshopping began, there was some weekly that forced the headlines and came up with the quotation mark, attributed to me, “here I am, I’m the king of teleshopping”. Mike, who was the real king of teleshopping, didn’t like it. “You mustn’t say that!”, He told me every time I met him in the dressing room. “But Mike, I never said it!”. “Yes, but don’t say it,” he insisted. And I, who had a sacred respect for her figure: “Okay, Mike, I won’t say it anymore”  ».
Berlusconi’s entry into politics saw them all on the same side. Did you also vote for the Knight?
“I came from a Christian Democrat family tradition. So, as a moderate who looked more towards the centre-right, yes, I voted for him. But I have always been a pragmatist, even as a voter. I look a lot at the person, in fact in Milan I voted for Beppe Sala. My dad, on the other hand, had become an avid Berlusconi supporter, Berlusconi in all its forms was almost a vocation for him. And what happens? Three years after the end of the marriage with me, Natalia gets together with Paolo Berlusconi and therefore it happened that she found herself with him on some occasion, such as on holy days. Well, dad was delighted with those moments, to see a Berlusconi in the family, even next to his ex daughter-in-law».
Mastrota, how did you disappear from the circle of TV presenters?
«TV is made up of ups and downs. And those who do it are divided into two categories: those who accept it and those who don’t. I’ve always been in the first group. In 1995 I took over a program, “Born to win”, which went decidedly wrong. Having in the meantime continued to do telesales and telepromotions, with some success, the companies insisted on wanting me and I to do essentially that».
Have you ever had the opportunity to relaunch yourself?
«After “Meteore”, with Gene Gnocchi on Italia 1, Rai offers me “Festa di Classe” after Amadeus. I should have moved to Rome, quit teleshopping and above all get away from Federico, the second son of my then partner Carolina, who had just been born. There are those who live with a desire for revenge and those who, on the other hand, face the choices of life ask themselves a simple question: am I fine like this or not?
Did you choose retaliation or the question?
“I chose the question. And I quickly found the answer. Yes, I was fine like this».
Do you think again?
‘Of course I think about it. And, when it happens, I rephrase the question. The answer is that I’m fine, so it was okay to give up. Today there are four children. After Natalia Junior and Federico Matilde and Lorenzo arrived, Floribeth and I finally got married and we live in the middle of nature, in Bormio. I still do teleshopping and spend my free time reading essays on Italian and international politics, my passion».
Did you then take the degree in political science?
“I only need the discussion of the thesis, I’ve passed all the exams”.
Looking back, what surprises you?
«Maybe it’s the same one that still leaves me dumbfounded, after so many years, every time I sign that contract to go on the air. The fact that the undersigned, Mastrota Giorgio, is officially considered with the same word as Van Gogh or Picasso: artist. But wouldn’t “professional entertainment” be better?».
