Esteban Arce: the day the devil spoke to him, changing his life forever

Fame has brought the well-known Mexican TV presenter to the abyss of perdition for excesses, parties, egos and vanity

Esteban Arce passed through the most famous program of the era a Telehit And Televisa titled El Calabozobased on interviews and mocking the defects of others, a formula that was successful in those years, and then to television programs Trapitos al sol And Cotorreando on Univisiónbased on gossip about famous people.

Programs that were not at all edifying, and which, as he himself says, did not help him at all on a spiritual level. But one day everything changed for him. The day the devil himself spoke to him. For him, that meeting meant his definitive and total return to the Catholic faith, to a path of coherence with the values ​​he had instilled in him since he was a child.

He is currently conducting the news in Mexico Matutino Expresscalled today Expreso de la mañana and broadcast by Tv hole and from all digital platforms of the fort Televisa. In this program, Esteban has been defending the value of the life of unborn children and the values ​​of family and marriage for years, fulfilling a mission that God has entrusted to him.

His voice is also heard in every corner of Mexico every day thanks to the radio chain of Grupo Imagen.

Esteban Arce granted an interview to Aleteia narrating his life and confessing how the prayers of his wife and family brought him back to God’s way.

Esteban, what is your full name, where were you born and what are the talents that God has given you?

I am Esteban Arce Herrera, I was born in Mexico City almost 60 years ago and I am the fourth of five siblings. I was educated in the schools of the Marists ofInstituto Méxicoand as a quality I can say that I have a great imagination.

How did you get to fame?

It’s a popular fame, because television makes you popular, whether you want it or not. I started doing television by chance, because a childhood friend, Alejandro González Iñárritu, now a director, worked in a radio station, the W Radio.

I stopped seeing him for a while, and when we met again he asked me to help him with the promotion of the station. I started playing, and what started as a game ended up being a way of life. Then I formally entered the station, and over time came limited broadcast television and then open broadcast television. I went in with a partner and it went very well. We were on television for six years, and I haven’t stopped since.

What did it mean to you El Calabozothe television show so famous in the nineties?

Spiritually little. It was pure entertainment, quite bizarre, but very entertaining. The boys liked it a lot because there was everything from violence to tears, laughter and love.

The key to the success of El Calabozo Was it bullying you did?

It was a little bit of that, but mostly you bothered but they bothered you too, and we laughed at it. People loved the program for it, to annoy and be annoyed.

Is it a negative kind of humor?

At that moment that was what there was. Sometimes it was a bit heavy, but it was a dynamic that didn’t offend, because whoever we laughed at, then always came back to the program. Today it is not a recommendable program, it is not a content that you would like to show to your children, but at the time Mexican kids watched it.

What was it like meeting Jorge “El Burro” Van Rankin?

He is very expensive, funny, a singular character. As a friend he’s great, I’ve never had a problem with him. We continue to see each other, not as long as we would like, because everyone has taken the path of him.

How was your relationship with God at the stage of El Calabozo?

I’ve always been a Catholic. My mother was a catechist, her family was from Lagos de Moreno and the Unión de San Antonio, Jalisco, both areas of cristeros, the most Catholic part of Mexico. On my father’s side are Spaniards from Burgos, also here the most Catholic part of Spain.

I had an education, but sometimes the path deviates. I entered environments where I got lost, distanced, and when I realized it I was now very far from God.

Unfortunately, when my wife and I got married, we lost five children before the first birth, and this affected us very much. I was still a standard sinner, one of those who go to Mass, Baptisms, First Communions and feel Catholic, but in reality I was very far from everything that the fact of being Catholic implies.

With El Calabozo we have achieved tremendous popularity in Mexico, and for four years we have been the most successful program on radio and television. We broadcast on Mexico’s most successful radio station, featured figures like Michael Jackson and the Rolling Stones.

When I started to move away from that environment, spiritual and family problems also began, but fortunately my mother, my grandmother and my wife prayed a lot for me, and I was able to open my eyes and realize that that was not the way. right.

I had to make a change of course. I thank God because I don’t know what would become of me. Fortunately, now I have the most precious thing, which is my family, and I am a normal father, with his mistakes and right things, but always looking for God, holiness and getting to Him, where I come from.

It is often said that there are drugs, alcohol and women in the entertainment industry. Have you fallen into these temptations?

I have never been a vicious one. I used to go to parties, but alcohol and drugs weren’t for me, and I think that’s part of the blessing, that there was someone praying for me. I hit rock bottom when I started losing family value and putting my marriage at risk. Luckily I was able to change course. Thank God, I try every day to be a better Catholic and consistent with what I think and with what I believe.

Esteban, how does the devil talk to you?

The devil talks to you with drugs, with women, with alcohol, and I have seen all of this. I could fall at any time and in any environment: in a job, on television, in the world of football … I have seen everything. But God has a path for you, and he tells you “No there,” and he guides you on a better path.

What does Medjugorje mean for you?

Medjugorje was part of a change, it was the detonator. God touches us in a certain way, and I was touched while I was with my wife on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, where extraordinary things happened. I’ve seen episodes that really hit me. All those feelings transcend you, and they made me realize that we are in a place of passage. This is why on my return I totally changed my profile and my expectations. I continued to be the same, but I used my graces and blessings for another thing.

Did the devil speak to you there?

Yes. It was in an apparition of the Virgin. There was also a little girl with possession and who was screaming. She changed her voice, language, we were very impressed because she was a very young child. As she passed us she continued talking, she came over. The rest of the group didn’t notice because there was the apparition, and she kept insulting me and an American in English – she was Canadian – and then she changed and said to me in Spanish: “What are you doing here, Esteban? ” Her voice was that of a grown man, I don’t think it was her.

What did that moment arouse in you?

A very strong impression. I realized that the spiritual theme is what is strongest in this life project, but that very few people value it. If people gave it the value it really has, they wouldn’t do half the things that are done in this world.

There is a satanic project, and you choose the path to follow. For this reason, returning from Medjugorje, it became very clear to me where I had to direct the GPS. And from there I changed the profile of the program, but not my style, even though I got into trouble because I started defending life, family, and that bothers me. Popularity has also reversed. I went from being adorable to being despicable, but God has given me the strength and intelligence to handle the situation, and I keep asking for it every day in order to take up this cross.

How can you explain that in a strong broadcaster like Televisa, with ideologies contrary to yours, such as promiscuity, it was possible to keep your program?

Promiscuity is not the basis of the issuer. There are producers who do promiscuous things, but there are also very good ones like Miguel Ángel Herros, who is the one who has made the most papal broadcasts, always looking for family themes. Sometimes, some producers believe that going those routes makes them more popular. In my case, I started changing the content of the program and they never told me not to. I have kept Our Lady of Guadalupe in my studio for 15 years and they have never taken it from me.

Are Satanism and TV orgies a myth or a legend?

There must be productions in which there are, but there are also, for example, soap operas that begin and end with a Mass. Most of the soap operas of Televisa it is consecrated to God, even if the theme is sometimes distorted.

They often tell me that this environment is full of drugs, but I don’t really see them. I also believe that you do the environment. I have heard of satanic producers, who do witchcraft, orgies, but they do not do it by putting the interests of the company first.

There are also a lot of very good people. In the news of the Televisafor example, they allowed us to have an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to whom fresh flowers are placed every day.

How did you deal with the LGBT community?

I have companions of all kinds. I ran a program for six years with a colleague who openly declares himself to be from the community, and if he is asked about it he says that he has never had a better partner than me. He is Jewish, Cuban, gay and every Christmas he contacts me and tells me that I am the only friend who has left him on television.

What I do not tolerate is that they come to sell me gender ideologies or try to impose or make me believe things, and for this I was attacked. It is as if I put my ideas and projects in another forum. I won’t and they won’t let me. To the extent that, by example and values, you propose what you believe in and that you believe belongs to God, that is the way. It is not a question of confrontation, but of exposing what one believes.

How do you define your mission in this world?

My mission is communication. God has given me the gift of communicating, of expressing myself and of finding a way to transmit respect for life, for him, for the family and all the values ​​it implies. In the program we did it for 14 years, because the first year was different, but this didn’t happen thanks to me, but thanks to God who heals me and puts me in the right place. I took this mission and I am the happiest person in the world.

What does your wife Nieves mean to you?

It is a phenomenon. She is a woman of great strength, who helped me, she formed me, because they say that her second education is given by her wife. Without her I could not have transformed my life. She is extraordinary, she has many values, she works every day for God and is consistent with what she does. She is always behind me, and I feel protected by her prayers.

Esteban Arce: the day the devil spoke to him, changing his life forever