The loves of María Teresa Campos: from José María Borrego to Edmundo Arrocet

María Teresa Campos has been one of the most representative figures in the world of television in Spain.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
04 September 2023 Monday 16:31
14 Reads
The loves of María Teresa Campos: from José María Borrego to Edmundo Arrocet

María Teresa Campos has been one of the most representative figures in the world of television in Spain. Despite being born in the Spanish Protectorate of Tetouan, her family moved to Malaga when she was one year old, where she lived, grew up, and nurtured her passion for the media before moving to Madrid. There she would end up becoming the queen of the mornings and, eventually, the queen of the weekends, with a television career of 26 years.

Throughout that extended period of time, there are many love stories that the presenter has experienced. Happy times with different endings, some tragic and others more stable. However, heartbreaks have never stopped the communicator, an all-rounder in front of the cameras and behind the sets. A life full of stories, anecdotes and curiosities worth reviewing, to keep alive over the years.

The first of these love stories is the one she had with what would end up being her only husband: José María Borrego. The couple met when the journalist was only 16 years old, but the romance ended up blossoming. From their marriage, which became official in 1964, their two daughters would end up being born: Terelu Campos and Carmen Borrego. An intimate relationship that would last a total of 24 years, but that would end with a tragic and very painful end for the family.

It was in the middle of her marriage when Campos took the reins of her future and decided to move to Madrid, in order to continue her career as a communicator. This fact caused a certain marital crisis with Borrego living alone in Malaga during their last years as a couple. It all ended in 1984, when the presenter's husband shot himself in the head while in Marbella. The suicide was a complicated matter to overcome, both for the presenter and for her daughters.

After this devastating loss, María Teresa found love again almost by chance. It was thanks to the Basque architect Félix Arechavaleta, who managed to make the communicator smile back and bring some light to Terelu and Carmen after their suicide. According to Campos herself, Arechavaleta "was like a father" to the young women, arriving at a hard time in their lives. His duo ended amicably in 2001, before he died in 2006 of a heart attack.

The first decade of the 2000s was a time of trial and error in the most romantic sphere. For a year she was linked to Felipe Maestro, manager of the Palace of Congresses and Exhibitions of Seville; before he associated her with the journalist José María Hijarrubia, eight years younger than her. This connection did not last two years, and a year later, she was related to the chemist Santiago García.

The Argentine lawyer Gustavo Manilow was another of the notable names that fill this list. It was a brief story, but it came at a delicate moment for the presenter, when she had to undergo an operation on her vocal cords. There was no deep connection, mainly because her health was not the only relevant factor. They were a few years of loneliness for María Teresa, before she found a long-term love again.

It was in 2014 when the presenter was sighted for the first time with Edmundo “Bigote” Arrocet, the well-known comedian of Chilean origin who became famous thanks to his appearances on Un, dos, tres, responderaagain….

Campos and Arrocet were together for five years, when they surprisingly announced their breakup. It was a strange ending, after the comedian disappeared without a trace and only contacted María Teresa through text messages.