Elena Hanga: "I dream that my daughter will accomplish what I did not succeed in"

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

More than 10 years ago, TV presenter Elena Hanga woke up famous. An openly sexual talk show "About it" started on NTV. During the day, everyone scolded domestic television for immorality, and at night they greedily clung to the blue screens. After the period when there is no sex in the USSR, it was thanks to Elena Hanga that they began to speak out loud about it. Then there was the Domino Principle program, the wedding and the birth of a long-awaited daughter. Now Elena Hang's life is more measured: she is leading a serious program about politics, raising a daughter and dreaming that she will be able to travel around the world in retirement.

Blitz survey "Cleo":

- Are you friends with the Internet?

- As needed.

- What is an unacceptable luxury for you?

- Eat your favorite high-calorie nut cake at 11pm.

- Where did you spend your last vacation?

- In NYC.

- What animal do you associate yourself with?

- Probably with a Yorkshire terrier that lives in our house.

- Did you have a nickname as a child?

- When I played tennis, my name was Bagheera.

- What turns you on?

- Good music.

Elena Hanga, have you ever thought about how your life would have turned out if you had not become a journalist, TV presenter?

I would then be a psychotherapist in New York. I knew who I would be, I almost got the distribution when I studied, I only had to finish my studies a little bit. I would have had a measured, quiet, calm life from 9 to 6. But suddenly everything changed … And thank God! I love my job, journalism!

Today you host a socio-political program on the Russia Today channel. Why, after sex and some family problems, did you decide to talk about politics?

I can say that this is a wonderful channel, I really like it. People from different countries work there, they broadcast in different languages, in English, Spanish and Arabic. They are very talented, young, ambitious guys from all over the world, erudite, wonderful professionals. There even the illuminators swear in English, although they are ours - Russian. This is insanely interesting. And the show I'm on is really about politics.

But, unfortunately, it only goes abroad, or those who have satellite dishes can watch it. But mostly our people watch it when they go abroad.

Are you often unhappy with your job? Who is your own critic, maybe relatives, friends, or yourself?

My critics are family members. And they don't even scold me, but appreciate me. My mother-in-law is my main critic, my husband, if he manages to see my programs, my daughter, but the harshest critic is me myself. And there are also a lot of critics on the street, because everyone knows how to treat a cold and play football, all are specialists. And also experts on how to conduct talk shows, so many people come up and say: "Excuse me, of course, but we will tell you …"

Just strangers?

Yes. And I am grateful to such critics too.

Do you have any flaws that hinder not only you, but those around you, for example?

Of course there is, I have many shortcomings. If at work, then I am very principled and do not like hack. If I see that a person is cheating, I do not hide my attitude towards him. I remember when I worked in the Moscow News newspaper as a very young girl, we had a wonderful boss, Mostovshchikov, Alexander Mikhailovich. And I worked under his supervision. Our department had to hand over materials. And I cheated on something, then I handed it over a little later, then I will bring it, I will not add it, and there someone will add it for me. And in my youth, I thought that no one noticed this. And he called me at one point and said: “Lena, here you’re doing a mess, you think you missed it. Of course, it will slip through, it's not difficult for me to finish writing for you. But just imagine that there is a carriage with horses, a troika. And then one horse raised its legs. And this means that this whole weight of the carriage is shifted to the rest of the horses. They, of course, pull where they go, but this is not good. Every time you decide to cheat, you must understand that you are shifting all the burden to your comrades. I was so ashamed, so disgusted. And since then, I myself do not like to juggle, and I don’t give it to others.

- Are you an owl or a lark?

- Owl.

- Do you have a talisman?

- In childhood there was a bear cub, now not.

- How do you relieve stress?

- My husband and I go to the dacha to see friends. Or I'll go to the bookstore.

- What melody is on your mobile phone?

- I feel good James Brown.

- What is your psychological age?

- Each time it is different, depending on how I look.

- What is your favorite aphorism?

- There is an American song, and there are these words: "It doesn't matter where you started, the main thing is what you have achieved."

Elena Hanga, tell me, but the press surrounds famous people with increased attention, but also often lies. What incredible press stories can you tell us about yourself?

Once I was with my old family friend at his friend's birthday party. And there was a paparazzi who filmed us, and after that the cover of the yellow newspaper came out, where it was written that I was with my lover, a Brazilian producer. Some terrible nonsense with details. I then asked this photographer: "How could you write like that?" And he says: "I just took a picture and took it there, and they have already thought of everything themselves." I called the editor-in-chief: “How could you come up with such a thing? Shame on you?" And he says: “You are an intelligent woman, why do you read all kinds of snowstorms? I don't even want to talk, I thought you were calling on a serious matter, but you … Just think, they wrote that she has a lover, found something to be offended at. " So I somehow do not pay attention to these things for some time now. To file for libel against yellow publications is more expensive.

In our country, the fines are such that in this publication they will simply laugh, even if they are awarded that I won. And the attention to this newspaper, thanks to the lawsuit, will be such that they will also earn five times more.

Do you go to social events?

It depends on which ones. They are mostly boring because they are boring. But if friends or some charity organizations invite, I come. And I don't really like that, because they are all after seven in the evening, and after six I try not to eat.

What else besides work is in your life? What gives you strength and inspiration?

Family, husband, daughter. A very banal answer, but this is the most important thing. My daughter is now my main hope and inspiration. Sometimes I catch myself thinking that I'm just already living her life, although this is probably wrong. But for me now the most important thing is for her to do what I could not do in due time. At one time, I really wanted to play the piano, I even studied for 10 years, but apparently I didn't have enough talent. I love tennis very much, I always watch it, and my daughter gave it to this sport. Now I dream that something will come out of my daughter. My husband always tells me: “You don't need to shift your complexes onto the child. If you haven’t realized something in something, you don’t have to pressure the girl with constant “you have to”. But I try not just to press, but to explain why it is important.

Is your daughter already doing well in tennis? What does she like best?

She most of all likes not to do anything, but she shakes her rights and threatens to appeal to the Strasbourg court. Because every day she has tennis, then music, then English, the teacher comes, then drawing, then dancing. She believes that she was deprived of a happy childhood, and I believe that one can only dream of such a happy childhood. So opinions differ.

Are you a strict mom in general?

What are you, she's twisting the ropes out of me!

My closest friend from America came, lived with me and said: "Listen, even your Yorkshire terrier twists ropes out of you."

And in what way does your daughter look like you?

I think she got a sense of humor from me, she is very self-critical, and can laugh at herself. And I really like this about her and my husband says that this is from me, because I also treat myself with great irony. It seems to me that this will help her a lot in life. Treat yourself soberly - it's important not to blow your mind.

What were you like as a child? A rip-off or an exemplary daughter?

I have never been a rip-off, I think that I was an obedient child. And from the age of nine I played tennis, and I was hardly at home. I lived in Cheryomushki, and I went to CSKA to play, I had to take the metro for an hour, and then another half hour by tram and trolleybus, and another walk. Two hours one end and two hours the other, plus two hours of training. That is, it only took me six hours to play tennis. In addition, the music teacher came. Lord, how I hated this business, but my mother said: “So, as long as you live at my expense, you will do what I tell you. If you get married, please, then you can do whatever you want. And I dreamed of getting married, probably from the age of ten, in order to stop making music. But I was obedient.

Once I remember, I was 13-14 years old, I rebelled, I thought: “What is this? Why no one goes to tennis, and I like a damn go there, as to work?"

And I didn’t go to tennis, and on the same day I and some guys I knew from the street went to some gateway, where they showed us pornographic pictures. In general, horror, I learned something in one day that I did not know about for many, many years. But, of course, they immediately called from CSKA and told my mother that I hadn’t come to training and I received the full program. And then I realized that my mother did the right thing, that she pushed me into tennis.

As a child, probably faced with some curious glances? Still, there were few Africans in the Soviet Union.

Of course. I was one of the first African children. People came up, in childhood they pestered: "Why are you not like us?" And my friend Sasha, my foster brother, always stood up for me and told me: “Lena is black because her dad is black and he is in Africa. If you go to Africa you will be black too. " It was difficult to argue with this, they said: “Well, good. But Lena was born here, she should be white in theory. " And I didn't turn white, and Sasha said: "There will be more questions, we will beat you all at once, without waiting." And we fought like that, Sasha defended me. I could stand up for myself, but I didn't attack anyone.

And now, where is your mother and what does she do, do you often see each other?

My mother is very old and, unfortunately, she is ill. She is in Moscow.

You have such wonderful romantic stories in your family. A former slave married a Jewish woman, the Tanzanian Politburo found my mother especially for my father. Your story with your husband is also unusual, having met, separated for 10 years, and only then got married. Why did it happen?

There was a spark, but we hid it from each other. I wanted to conquer the world, I wanted to understand what I am capable of. And living in Moscow, I understood that I was under my mother's wing. Of course, she helped me get a job, not without a call, and I wanted to understand for myself what I was capable of. Therefore, I decided to leave for America, to a foreign country, I wanted to try to write a book, work abroad, learn something new. And then, when we already met in 1999, and I left in 1989, I was already an accomplished person. I have achieved everything that I aspired to. You can treat successfully in different ways - not successfully, but I have already reached the peak, and I have not had this - I want to travel the world and try everything.

Dossier "Cleo"

Elena's spouse is Igor Mintusov, a well-known sociologist and political scientist. As for the TV presenter's romantic background, her father was the prime minister of Zanzibar. He was repressed after a coup d'état and died in prison. Mother was born in Tashkent, in the family of an African American and a Polish Jewess who emigrated to the USSR from the United States.

All I wanted was to hit the safe haven and have a baby. And I knew that he would actually be a better father. Over the years, there have been different people, but the one with whom I would like to live the rest of my life is my husband. Therefore, I moved from New York to Moscow and very willingly.

Elena Hanga, you have already done a lot, tried a lot, but a lot is still ahead. How do you see your life in ten years?

My friends and I are "crazy mothers". We are afraid that we will fit headlong into the lives of our children. To prevent this from happening, and not to torment the children with unnecessary care, we want to buy a house somewhere on the seashore, get together and live there together. So that the children come to us when they want. I'm kidding, of course. In fact, in ten years from now, I am going to travel with my husband around the world, because now we are working and so often we cannot afford it. I want to arrange gastronomic tours, travel to places where I will taste delicious wines and dishes. I am madly interested in the fashion of the 50s, 60s, maybe someday I will create my own store or website dedicated to the style of those years. Films, music and dances of those years are also incredibly interesting to me. When I retire, I will finally be able to know, see and taste what I have long dreamed of.