VIP QUARANTINE - host Iva Kubelková: My partner and I are still getting to know each other and figuring out if we want to be together
Since the government keeps us locked up at home because of the spread of the coronavirus, many people spend their evenings in their homes instead of going out to restaurants, theaters or cinemas. Artists who make their living by singing or acting are having a hard time. Iva Kubelková also felt the consequences of the lockdown, although some of her projects are still ongoing despite the bans. In the interview for LP-Life.com, she confided to us how the coronavirus affected her life.
Iva, how are you?
I'm fine, all things considered.
Aren't you complaining in this coronavirus age, like most artists?
I think that most artists aren't complaining, they are just describing their situation.
Describe to us how you spend your time at home when you can't go to restaurants, concerts, parties....
When I'm at home, I either do distance learning with the children, especially with the older one, who is in the freshman year at grammar school and it's quite difficult for her, or we renovate, clean or paint something at home. We redesigned the children's rooms, we painted the walls and so on.
What do you do as an artist? What's something that coronavirus has not affected for you?
I have the advantage that I have always had my fingers dipped in four places when it comes to my profession. In recent years, 80% of my time has been spent hosting various social events. Of course, that's gone now, but I was left with hosting on television, hosting of the show Building the Dream, where a new season is to be filmed, and the hosting of Show Time, which is a new thing.
Weren't you there a long time ago? Or was it just called differently?
That was the Top Star Magazine, it was a separate thing. It ran independently, it aired at half past nine, and then they made a new version after the evening news. Gradually, the Top Star Magazine disappeared and only Show Time remained.
So after how many years did you get back to this program?
After five years. I even feel like it's exactly five years to a month.
What has changed in those five years?
Some of the editors have remained the same, they have been filming for this show for a long time. Now the team has changed a bit, other people were involved in it back then when it comes to dramaturgy. That has undergone a change, but otherwise I think that the show has become less of a tabloid magazine. I feel like now it's more of a probe into culture and it's going in the right direction.
Were you reluctant to take this offer?
I considered it very briefly because it's not the same place. It's a brand new beautiful studio within CNN, the environment is very nice. Nowadays, refusing to work in television would be almost a blasphemy. I think it's the icing on the hosting cake. They make you a princess and you host a fifteen-minute show with the highest viewership, in prime time.
Along with it you have Building the Dream which isn't shooting yet.
It has started shooting now in November.
Have there been stories that fascinated you, moved you?
There, all the stories will move you, I have never experienced one that hasn't moved me. These are such stories that, at times, even seem almost unbelievable. Either because of the things that happen to people during their lives, or because of how incredibly brave and strong those people are, and how they manage to gain even more strength out of it.
I know you're a very sensitive person. Was there a story that moved you so much that you decided to help out of your own pockets?
The help from the show itself is so great that often it's more than those people are even able to absorb. Of course, I'm on a personal level with all of those people and many of them still write to me on social networks how they are doing, they keep me updated, tell me how they're managing. There are a lot of people with whom I correspond and within my abilities we exchange ideas and the like.
One of them is a lady who weighed about 150 kilos, she was very overweight at the time of filming. Unfortunately, her daughter committed suicide, she lived only with her younger daughter and suffered from depression, she couldn't even go out. She regularly writes to me how she is and how much our show has helped her, often she writes that she keeps thinking of the things I told her. That it was such a motivating element for her, that she was able to do it and that she managed to gather her courage. To this day, she has lost about 40 kilos, and they have reconciled with her former partner. After such stories, you tell yourself that doing this really has some meaning.
What about your singing?
It's a joy, for me it's a huge hobby and a joy in one. Michal Pavlíček and I have released a record, which we were working on for two years. Unfortunately Covid also hit hard there, because I was planning concerts... to sing live, for real people, and share with them the atmosphere of the record and the work that Michal and I put into it. But I think that everything has its meaning and significance, so maybe it's necessary for people to acquaint themselves with the record more, for them to get used to the fact that I've released a record at all. It's obvious that not everyone needs to listen to my songs right away.
Most people are stuck at home now, are you also at home sometimes?
I try to be considerate, I don't underestimate the situation. I think when a person encounters something that is unknown to them, it's always better to be cautions rather than take risks.
Was there anyone among your loved ones or friends who had it? Maybe a severe case?
There wasn't anyone. Personally, I think we've all been through it, but I don't know anyone with a severe course. But I believe that there are many people like that and the only important indicator for me is the state of hospitals, ICUs, doctors and nurses who work there. For me, that has always been the most important indicator of how seriously I need to take it. Of course, everyone feels the need to comment on this, the whole republic is suddenly full of epidemiologists. There was so much information about everything at the beginning that I always followed only what the front-line doctors said.
I limited myself only to work matters now. The hosting and advertising contracts I have, the companies I work with, all of those remain. I only leave for work, but otherwise I'm at home. I have two children in distance learning.
That would be my next question, how do you handle it?
Today, for example, I really thought I'd lose it (laughs).
Is it difficult?
Terribly. Throughout the time the children have been at home, it's natural that at their age, they lose some sense of discipline, it starts to fall apart. In the role of a parent, you must be the one who sets the order and structure. And since they are at home, they're obviously tempted to do everything else than what they are supposed to be doing at that moment.
Otherwise, the girls are precious, right?
Yeah, otherwise they're precious. Sixteen-year-old Natálka and eleven-year-old Karolínka, their age of course carries with them certain attributes, but otherwise they are both fine.
Does Natálka already have a boyfriend?
She doesn't, or at least I don't know about any. She already had some boys, but she doesn't have any at the moment.
She's really beautiful after you, your partner should start considering getting a gun…
She's pretty sensible about this, at least that's my impression. I noticed that she's already had a few "relationships" that may have disappointed her, boys at this age are difficult, just like girls are in their teens and they don't know much about what's going on with them. I feel like she's pretty careful now, I think that's good.
