Cristina Parodi: A Journey from News Anchor to Fashion Designer

January 13, 1992 marked not only the birth of Tg5, but also the rise of a new star in the Italian journalistic scene, Cristina Parodi. "I chose a canary yellow Max Mara suit with jewel buttons. I had prepared as if for an exam: I had read and reread the texts. In the end, I knew them by heart, even though I was aware that Enrico Mentana could change everything at the last minute, and so he did," she recounts, reliving the moments of that historic day. Today, the journalist is also a fashion designer, having launched the brand Crida with a friend, and she looks back on her years in television in an interview with Corriere della Sera. Roberto Cavalli's funeral took place today: his partner holding their last one-year-old child, his six children: the pain of his extended family. The beginnings From that first edition of the news, Cristina Parodi's career took off: "It was a moment of great visibility: Famiglia Cristiana dedicated the cover to Tg5, featuring my photo. We were very few but we realized that we were doing something historic," the journalist continues. It was her passion for writing that brought her to television. "I liked to write and in high school, I hosted a small music program on a local TV station in my city, Alessandria. While studying at the Faculty of Letters in Milan, I supported myself with a thousand jobs: playing tennis at competitive levels, I worked as a hostess and announcer at the most important tournaments." The apprenticeship Her entry into Mediaset came through soccer, although her true passion was tennis. "It was the nineties, women talking about soccer worked. For me, who was in love with tennis, I cared nothing about soccer: I had to learn by buying Gazzetta dello Sport every day and studying it." Cristina denies having encountered sexism in her work environment: "No, on the contrary, I was surrounded by great masters like Maurizio Mosca who always helped and esteemed me." Her debut as a presenter with Emilio Fede: "A affectionate and brilliant man, but some of his outbursts were inconceivable to me. Paolo Brosio and I were the 'highlighters': we had two desks outside his office and we highlighted the agencies that came out, he was certainly not the type to stay at the computer." The years at Tg5 The years at Mentana's Tg5 marked a turning point in her professional career, and also the first meeting with who would later become her husband: Giorgio Gori. "I, Cesara Buonamici, Alessandro Cecchi Paone, and Lamberto Sposini were the 'chosen ones'. To understand more one day Cesara took courage and called the then young director of Canale 5 Giorgio Gori, who was on vacation in Baja California. He was kind and told us: 'Whoever jumps on it does well'. I would have gone even without that advice from my future husband, but that was the seal," she remembers. The colleagues Of her colleagues from those times, she remembers Enrico Mentana as "an absolute genius". Lamberto Sposini "charming and pleasant to be around. It saddens me that he had this health problem, he who was a man of communication and words." Cesara Buonamici "a teacher because she had done a lot of politics, even though I never wanted to do politics. We see each other little, but I have great affection for her." The husband Giorgio Gori For 30 years, Cristina Parodi has been married to Giorgio Gori, today the mayor of Bergamo. "We fell in love in Rome: he came continuously to the editorial office for meetings. The first time I saw him he was 31 years old but looked like he was 18: he was the enfant prodige and he was very cool," she remembers. But love with the young director of Canale 5 was "never a driving force, but at times a limitation, due to that continuous fear of favoring me." After the marriage, the decision to leave Tg5 for Verissimo, Rome for Milan, also for family reasons: "I commuted to Bergamo every day: I would get in line and read the newspaper. Hard work never scared me and the children were a blessing. Of course, I lived with guilt, but as long as they were small I eliminated all distractions: I worked and went home, there were no sports, shopping, or friends." Fashion Today, Cristina Parodi is also dedicated to fashion, creating a brand with a friend. "Now I want to be a designer and an entrepreneur. Maybe later return to TV, but with a program about fashion."