Roscone (the affectionate nickname of Patrick Aznar Vallejo-Naguera, Samantha Vallejo-Naguera’s son, who earned the nickname because of his Down syndrome, or, as his mother puts it, “because it was a surprise”) debuted on a show under his own name on December 4, after his mother got a five-year stint at her former Criticism Network. Meanwhile ‘MasterChef’, the program that made him famous, has been a magnet for controversy: it just reconstructed the dead mother of one of its judges with AI.
Work. ‘Roscone, The Great Christmas Show’ is the play in which the 18-year-old made his debut as an actor. He plays Bruno, the son of a family with little wealth, and Lara Dibildos plays the mother and villain. The play is presented by its director, Cesar Lucendo, as an example of theater that gives real opportunities to people with disabilities, in line with productions such as Javier Feser’s ‘Campeones’ story. Roscon himself said on ‘And Now Sonsouls’ in March that he wanted to be an actor in a musical or influencer.
Years of exposure. Although this is one of his first acts as an adult, Roscone has been in the public eye for years, since his very media-friendly mother has been showing him off on social networks since he was young. Vallejo-Nágera claims that she started posting photos of Roscón without any intention and people started liking her. This audience brought affection to the young man, but also criticism for the overexposure he indulged in, and which well summed up the dangers of sharing.
Quarrels and TV. In February 2021, while they were cooking pancakes in a video, Roscone said that at school she danced with the boys and she responded that the boys danced with the girls. It was a trend and he apologized the next day: “I expressed myself badly and didn’t do much.” In October 2022, she uploaded a video of her son crying while scolding him for secretly watching TV. Annabel Pantoza wrote to him: “Can’t you see that he is not aware of the impact of this video?”, and Vallejo-Naguera deleted the publication and apologized.
to dance The last straw for many came in June of the same year, ‘Friday!’ at the event From Telecinco, where they participated together. Roscone began dancing on set to the visible nervousness of her mother, who called her to order. Many viewers took to social networks to scold her for calling her mother “like she’s a dog”, although others defended her right to show how she has fun in public.
The set that made him famous. Vallejo-Nágera left the ‘MasterChef’ jury in January after 13 years and 38 editions and was replaced by Marta Sanahuja. The program has a long history of controversy. After the death of Veronika Fork in December 2021, the RTVE board announced an internal audit that the corporation had dissociated from the case. A few weeks ago, RTVE described the judges’ imitation of the Galician language and accent as “unfortunate and unnecessary”, and the jury’s joke about the Rubiales case was also deemed inappropriate.
In April 2024, when contestant Urena left the program, Vallejo-Naguera himself berated her for putting her well-being first and was shown the door by Jordi Cruz. Two weeks later, Shine Iberia defended in writing that the contestants’ mental well-being was his “absolute priority,” an issue that has been in question since Fork’s death. These are just a few in a long string of problematic positions touting “natural nutrition” against cancer.
The latest: AI-generated mothers. The latest debate came this month, without Vallejo-Naggera on the jury. On ‘MasterChef Celebrity Legends,’ the program surprises Pepe Rodriguez with a video of his mother, Teresa Ray, now dead, recreated with artificial intelligence. The judge breaks down in tears and celebrates surviving the moment “even though it was with AI,” in a use of missing persons rarely seen on public television. The former presenter’s treatment of Roscone was always controversial, but it was certainly a significant place from which to sprout.
In Xataka | When I became a teenager I became aware that my parents had shared my childhood on the Internet.
