Ana Obregón

She obtained a Masters degree in biology –specializing in zoology– from the Complutense University of Madrid and a Master of Business Administration in construction and real estate companies.[1]

She made her film debut in 1979 and had an international film career with several films of medium resonance. She is best known to American audiences for her role as Bo Derek's sidekick in Bolero (1984). She also starred in Jules Verne's Mystery on Monster Island (1981) and the 3-D action adventure film Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983) with Tony Anthony. She also appeared in an episode of Who's the Boss? –playing Ana, Tony Micelli's Italian cousin– and in an episode of The A-Team.[2]

In the mid-1980s she began her career in television in Spain. Between 1993 and 1998 she hosted the prime-time game show ¿Qué apostamos? along with Ramón García on Televisión Española (TVE).[3] The success with this show allowed her to host numerous television galas and special shows from then on. On 14–15 October 1994, she hosted –along with Francisco– the 23rd edition of the OTI Festival at Teatro Principal in Valencia. The event was transmitted live to the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) member broadcasters via satellite.[4] She hosted on TVE the broadcast of the New Year's Eve clock bell strikes live from Puerta del Sol in Madrid to welcome 1995 –along with Joaquín Prat–, 1996 –with Ramón García–, 2005 –with Ramón García–, 2021 –with Anne Igartiburu– and 2023 –with Los Morancos–.[lower-alpha 1][5]

She made a career as a television actress, participating in series such as Hostal Royal Manzanares (1996–1997) and A las once en casa (1998–1999). In 2002, she created, scripted and starred in the series Ana y los 7. This series achieved great audience success, adding a total of 91 episodes in five seasons, and had remakes in Portugal, Mexico, Italy and Chile.[6]

She has participated as a contestant in season seven of ¡Mira quién baila!, in season four of MasterChef Celebrity and as a panelists in season three of Mask Singer: Adivina quién canta.[2]

A staple of the Spanish prensa rosa or gossip press, Obregón is also famous in Spain and Britain for a long relationship with Croatia striker Davor Šuker as well as a supposed liaison with the Real Madrid and England international football player David Beckham. This led to a spat with Beckham's wife Victoria.[7] Obregón later denied any sexual misconduct on her part, but sued instead.[8]

Obregón was one of Jeffrey Epstein's clients at his consulting firm, Intercontinental Assets Group Inc. (IAG). In 1982 Epstein, then a high-level bounty hunter, helped her to recover her father's millions in lost investments, which had disappeared when Drysdale Government Securities collapsed because of fraud.[9][10][11]

Obregón found herself in the midst of controversy in 2007 following information disclosed by Interviú, and subsequently published by the major newspapers in Spain: according to said media, an ostensibly distraught Obregón allegedly called her bodyguard Eloy Sánchez Barba in order to ask him to hire third parties to beat up or physically assault journalist Jaime Cantinzano, in reprisal for what she deemed an unacceptable public exposure of her teenage son. According to these sources of information, she said: "...but I don't want this done by just anyone, I want you to have los Miami doing this", in reference to a well-known criminal group established mainly in Madrid.[12] Unbeknownst to her and Sánchez Barba, the latter's telephone line had been tapped by the Spanish police in connection to their investigation of a hit job presumably coordinated by Sánchez Barba months before.[13][14][15]

In 2020, she lost her only son, Alejandro Alfonso (Aless) Lequio, to cancer. In 2021, she also lost her mother to old age. Following the deaths of her mother and son, she exited the entertainment industry.

On 20 March 2023, Obregón became the grandmother of a girl, whom she named Ana Sandra (Analé) Lequio Obregón, by surrogacy. She later revealed that the girl was fathered by her deceased son, who preserved samples of his sperm before beginning cancer treatment, and the ovum of a donor.[16] Ana Sandra was born at the Memorial Regional Hospital in Florida. Although surrogacy is illegal in Spain, adopting a child born abroad is lawful.[17] In an interview with ¡Hola! magazine in May 2023,[18] Obregón referred to Ana Sandra as her "granddaughter".[16]

• Ana Obregón at IMDb