How I Became a TV Host (The Good, Bad & Ugly!).

Episode 105, I survived. The drama. Wow. Yes, I'm still sitting on my bed. It's the most comfortable place in my current home right now. I'm waiting on furniture. It has not arrived and basically my bedroom set is the only thing that I brought from my old place. Because I am talking about Hollywood, sometimes I've been in some uncomfortable situations. When it comes to uncomfortable subjects, I figured why not do it in the comfiest place that I can find. Does that make sense? Is it weird? But if it is, comment below. It's me, Julissa. So you know me as a host, and if you don't, I've been a host and I've been hosting different shows since I was 19 years old. Oh my gosh, now I'm really about to age myself. Anyway, my first hosting job ever was on a show called The Roof on Mundos, which basically was when Telemundo and NBC merged. They came out with a network called Mundos, which means worlds in Spanish. Basically, they were trying to cater to people like me that grew up in a Spanish household, speaking Spanish to your parents, but never outside of the household. Like my parents would speak to me in Spanish and I would answer in English. The Roof was also a show that combined the love that you have for your Latin culture, but also the love that you have for all the other things that you loved about being in America. Pop videos, hip-hop videos, reggaeton videos. I actually feel like The Roof was really trailblazing. It was the first show that I ever hosted. I was 19 years old. I didn't know what I was doing as a Latina in this country growing up, you know, wanting to embrace all sides, you know, your Latin roots and then also the things that you were influenced by. And we had people on the show like Daddy Yankee, Evie Queen, Tego Calderon. My first interview ever was Fat Joe. Things that I grew up watching and listening to as a young girl in Queens, New York. And in my mind, it was groundbreaking, trailblazing. It was my very first show ever. So picture this. I'm 19 years old. Literally moving from New York City. This is the first time I'm moving outside of my parents house. This is the first time I ever saw my brothers cry. I didn't even know they cared about me that much. They literally cried when I left. Actually now that I think about it, I don't know if they were crying because they were happy that I was leaving or sad that I was leaving. Anyway, I moved to Miami. This audition was literally like over 500 people. It wasn't really a true audition. It was more like a cattle call, but somehow I ended up getting the job. Yeah, I barely knew what I was doing. I just brought all the energy in the world and it was the first time that I ever had one of these in my ear. This is 16 years old. For those that don't know, when you're a TV host, they put this thing in your ear called an IFB. So this was actually the mold of my ear. Oh my god. Let's see if my ear has changed in 16 years. You know, they say when you get older that your ears get bigger. Must because I think it's not really fitting that well. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. It fits, it fits, it fits. So then you wrap it around. I'll never forget the audio guy told me, oh my god, Eddie. I remember his name, Eddie. He was like, Julissa, don't lose it because those are really expensive. I try not to lose things that are really expensive. This is the function of an IFB. When you're on TV and your producer is in your ear, they are talking to you by way of this, the IFB. So, like I explained, this was my very first show ever. I really didn't know what I was doing. I literally was learning along the way. The show was live two hours and all we had was a week of rehearsal before we actually went live. So I'm learning all kind of things. I'm learning about lighting. I'm learning where to stand, which is called blocking. I'm learning about IFB and your producer talking to you in your ear. So they're telling you to ask certain questions. They're telling you to jump to the next question. I mean, you're getting all kind of directions in your ear. The point of this is to make it seamless. People, you guys are not supposed to know that I'm listening to my producer if you're watching a show because that's weird. Imagine how weird this was. On live TV, on everything I love, I cannot make this up. I stop at one point. Uh-huh. Mm-hmm. Okay. Literally, on live television, my producer's talking to me and because I'm getting used to this thing, I stop. Awkward silence. It's the death. You never want to be silent on TV, on radio, in interviews. Like, that's just, that's a no-no. I mean, obviously silent when the person's answering your questions, but you don't want dead air is what it's called. So imagine. You're tuning off. It's a wrap. There go the ratings. Boom. Done. Another thing you guys don't know, I also, as a TV host, sometimes have to read off of what's called a teleprompter. So now you've got to be mindful of the directions that you're getting in your ear by way of your producer, in your IFB, and you're also reading other things, so the words that are coming out of my mouth are not my words. So now I have to be on, smile, tell you all of these words in the most natural way, with all the energy, while listening to the direction that my producer is giving me. You get it? Comment below. A lot of people also don't know, sometimes you work with producers that are really in your ear, and you have to just continue to smile while they are going in on you, cursing you out. Sometimes they're telling you things that you're like, oh my goodness. So another story, and one of the biggest things that happened to me, was by way of my biggest fan, my mom, telling me, Julie, because I would call her after the roof every night. I'd be like, ma, so how did I do? Because my mom and my dad, I mean, at this point they thought I made it. I was on Telemundo. I was on Mundos. They're like, whoa, she's buying us a house. Like, no. Let me just take this off, because it's too much. So I would call my parents every night after the show and be like, ma, so how did I do? And she was like, Julie, you're doing good, but who you looking at? And I'm like, huh? So apparently, I didn't realize we had a TV screen next to the camera, with words on it. So it wasn't really a teleprompter. Basically, I was hosting like this. I was literally reading everything. And my mom was like, Julie, you're doing good, but who you looking at? Oh, wow. I probably should look into the camera. Yeah, that makes sense. That's probably how you connect with the audience, right? Again, learning curve. So, by way of all of this, I got really, really good at not only memorizing things, but also making sure I'm engaged with the audience. I'm here with it. I'm giving you all the things, because now, my goal is to not look over there and look only here. I was a sponge on set. I was learning so much. It was all of my learning curves were on this show, because it's the first show that I ever hosted. And again, I didn't have anybody famous in my family. I didn't have anybody that was a TV host. I didn't have anybody to teach me anything. I literally would watch Barbara Walters thinking like, I'm gonna be like her. I would watch a plethora of women. Let's just say Oprah, Cristina. Cristina in a Spanish household was everything. Like, Cristina Seriget was, first of all, basically like the Latina Oprah. So, she was goals. Daisy Fuentes, who was the first Latina ever on MTV. I mean, I literally would watch these women and say, yep, that's who I'm gonna be like. By the grace of God, I continued my career. And from the roof, I ended up going back to New York and booked another show that was also live, called 106 and Park on BET. Some of you may know me from that. So, I also had the opportunity to work with AJ and Free, who were the original hosts of 106 and Park. And they brought me in to be the correspondent in the audience. And it was basically like a trial run. I was so excited. The very first guest ever that they had me as a correspondent, backstage was J-Lo. So now, I finally got on the main show. I'm like, all excited! Oprah gift! And someone decides to play a little joke on me. You guys, I'm just telling you how I struggled to figure out how to finally read a teleprompter. I will never forget, live TV, someone turns off the teleprompter. I wanted to die. It was crazy. I remember feeling like my, literally, my intestines fell out of my butt. I remember feeling that way. Yeah. The quick, quick, quick moment that said it all on my face, because I'm clearly very, I can express myself. I have no problem doing that. I was like, oh, I probably sh**ted my pants a little bit. Like, it was, it was really bad. I'm sure the audience was like, does she just sh**? Does she just sh** her pants? I mean, what happened? But I survived. Thank God. It was the outro, and I was able to also do what's called, um, ad-lib. And basically, freestyle. So, I memorized a little bit of what I had to say, and then I basically freestyled the rest, and hopefully no one ever noticed. There weren't any stains left behind. It was all good. Well, speaking of ad-libs, I will never forget this. I got Kanye'd before Kanye'd Kanye'd a lot of people. Again, on 106 and Park, and this time, I'm, like, really moving up in the ranks, because now I'm on the couch. You know that couch was like, whoo! One of our first guests at the time, when I was co-hosting with my host at the time, Tigger, Big Tigger, Kanye came on as a guest, and he's on the couch. And again, we're live. The script is just going, going, going. I'm getting ready. I feel like I was, we must have had, like, a contest or something going on at the time, because there was a lot of information that I was literally just spewing. I'm reading the teleprompter. I'm reading all these words, and Kanye just comes in and interrupts. He's like, oh, why they got you reading all of that? Like, he literally is just interrupting me as I'm trying to read the prompter, but still keep a smile on my face and be like, oh my god, I'm getting played on national TV live by Kanye, the coolest rapper around right now. So that was another moment. I never went to, um, journalism school, so I never studied journalism. I literally learned everything by way of going on auditions and booking the jobs. There's clips that have aired of Jersey Shore, which is, um, I used to host Jersey Shore reunions, which apparently have now resurfaced, because I've been getting my cousins sending me photos, just like everybody else. The minute I watched Jersey Shore, I was obsessed. I was like, the cabs are here, the this, like, it was all of it. I didn't even realize how obsessed people were with the show until I hosted the reunions, and literally, even till this day, that now they are replaying the reunions, and I'm getting people commenting on like, you were so mean on that show, or you know, dang, why were you so judgmental? Little did they know, I had a producer in my ear. For the Jersey Shore reunions, and for all the shows I've ever hosted, I've always had to wear an IFB, and again, like I told you guys, this is how your producer communicates with you. That show was actually really crazy, because it was the first time I think I ever, I mean, I ever hosted such a big show like that. I mean, 106 and Park was big, but this was a reality TV, so it was really, really different. If you've ever watched that show, you know that there was a lot. I mean, I would be ready, ready to go, and like get offered shots. Like, oh, you want to do a shot before? It's like, no, the situation? I can't do a shot right now. I gotta ask you questions in a, like an hour. Basically, my job was to control people that did not want to be controlled. Keep the peace, make sure I'm asking all the questions that my producer is telling me in my ear. Julissa, move on. Like, what the, why are you taking so long to ask these questions, or ask this, or ask this? I don't know if you can imagine that kind of pressure. I just want to put this disclaimer out there and make it very clear. I am so, so grateful for the trajectory of my career, where it's taken me. I would never imagine in a million years that, till this day, you know, gracias a Dios, knock on wood, that I am still working, and that I have been on big pop culture shows like Jersey Shore. I just wanted to set it up for you guys, so you understand truly, like, how crazy it can be on set. I'll never forget this moment. I mean, you see what I'm wearing now. It's comfy. I'm in my house. I'm on my bed. It's, it's relaxed. Doing an episode of one of the reunions, I was in something that was so tight, and I promise I'm not being dramatic. Like, we literally had fitting the day before, and I was promised that I would have the right size. The stylist puts me in a dress, and I'm like, literally, I can't breathe. It was, like, a size double zero, and I said, okay, well, I can't breathe, let alone sit in this, so how's this gonna work? And she's like, oh, don't worry about it. By tomorrow, you know, I'll add the extender. I'll get a bigger size. We get on set, and nothing changes. So now, I'm literally like a sausage in this dress for hours, and I'll never forget when I walked off that set, I literally let out a moment of, of a sigh. I was just like, whoo, and I guess that came across as complaining, or being a diva, and got told, oh, quit your and complaining already, and I was, I literally just stopped in my tracks. I certainly didn't want to come across as, as and complaining, but I was also told that by a female producer, so that was, like, crazy, because it's like, dang, girl, like, I would think you could relate a little bit, you know? By the way, I really do think that there is a double standard. As a female, you get, you get the title of being a diva, in my opinion, way quicker than, I think, the average male host or actor would. Allergic to gluten, can we make it gluten-free? Oh, she's such a diva. She needs gluten-free. Oh my god, she's a vegan. Oh my god, it's so diva. She needs a bigger size of a dress. Like, why can't she just sit in the dress, or fit in the dress? You know what I'm saying? That was pretty much the last time I ever hosted a Jersey Shore reunion. I think there's something to be said, to be at the age that I'm at, to be able to share these stories that feel somewhat like survival stories. So comment below if you've ever had crazy experiences chasing your dreams, having that job that you thought was goals and, you know, turned out to be really eye-opening lessons and experiences for you, because I would love to share them on here with you guys. And just comment, let me know. My bio, I don't know if it's by way of my age, but it's, like, veteran TV host. Like, I'll take it. I'm not mad at that, but I just want to do it more my way, because it's me, Julissa. Don't forget to subscribe and don't forget to watch.