Born in Barcelona, Spain on November 24, 1974, but he is of Galician origin, since his father Ricardo Meijide, is a native of Padrón, province of (La Coruña, from where his paternal grandfather emigrated to Catalonia in the 20s.
Information regarding his parents is scarce, but it is clear that both admire him, his father declares himself as his main fan and sees in his son a tough but authentic personality; between good humor and pride he expresses admiration for his son. On the other hand, his mother was the most influential person to change his sense of life and forge his personality.
He is the oldest of three siblings, Julia Mejide and a 7-year-old stepbrother.
The name "Risto", has its origin in a camp where he became friends with some Finnish children, who started calling him that way instead of Ricardo. And his father relates that his last name Mejide, without the first "i" is the result of a typing error on the part of the Birth Registrar in his hometown, Meijide being the correct thing to do.
His childhood
He was always a diligent and studious child who also liked to spend long hours playing chess.
The well-known star presenter of «Mediaset» He lived through difficult moments in his childhood motivated by bullying. Given his school experiences, nothing flattering, and that he always made his mother know and shocked to discover her answers, Risto Mejide found the tools to defend himself, and knew the power of words, this would change his life forever.
He relates that once he came to complain to his mother about what his classmates did to him at school, instead of pampering him or feeling compassion for him, she made him realize that instead of victimizing himself, he thought about what action he would take to stop those abuses. Since that day something changed, became strong and shaped that somewhat armored personality that it maintains today as one of the most controversial men, and at the same time incisive on Spanish television.
Behind his sullen gestures and his critical verb, there is a generous and sensitive being that sometimes lets himself be seen.
His studies
At the end of high school, he decided to continue his higher or university studies initiating studies in Business and Administration and Business Management dictated by ESADE, in Barcelona Spain from where I graduated in 1997 as one of its most gifted and applied students, he was always recognized for his dedication and interest in learning and studying. He himself has commented that he always had the support of his mother to study and improve himself and make him the successful man of today, reasons that make him feel a very special recognition towards her.
Graduates as a Bachelor of Business Administration and Management, then does a Master Business Administration and he joined as a professor of Creativity in the Master in Communication and Advertising of the ELISAVA Superior School of Design, attached to the UPF and is Professor Honoris Causa of the Superior School of Communication of Granada (ESCO), but he is separated from his teaching career to enter the world of advertising and television; He is considered today one of the best publicists in the world due to the success of his creative work inside and outside of Spain.
Additionally, he began his interest in the publication of texts of his authorship, to the point that has managed to publish 9 books, where he leaves that personal stamp that characterizes him, that irreverent and carefree tone.
His musical career
Music joins his great passions. At the age of 21, being a vocalist and keyboardist, he created his own band called OMWithout being able to position itself significantly due to the lack of confidence of the producers for new young people who wanted to venture into music, the band lasted just over a year.
Later between 2008 and 2010, joins as executive producer in the musical project LABERANT, also composing several songs, from whose project a single with the same name emerged, which had as sponsor to Columbia Record-Sony Music.
His media career: Radio-Television - Advertising.
He is a magnanimous and versatile man. He has been a teacher, television presenter, record producer, songwriter, film actor, writer, publicist, and television and communication entrepreneur.
As the years passed, the serious character with dark glasses, symbol of his identity, was born, making himself known in the middle, but almost exponentially since he began as a jury in talent shows such as the well-known "Get Talen" in Spain. But nevertheless, his debut on the small screen was through "Antena 3", in 2006, also as a jury in the program "El Invento del Siglo" and then "Operación Triunfo", from where he is recognized as the most rigorous and controversial jury when it comes to evaluating the contestants, increasing the audience ratings with each one. of their interventions.
In 2007 he joined the radio programs "Protagonistas" and "Julia en la Onda".
In 2008 he returned as a jury in the reality show "Operación Triunfo 2008" hosted by Jesús Vásquez, on the "Telecinco Channel", despite having been expelled in 2009 by the television station itself. This highly popular project helped to catapult his career and continued to achieve great success. Two years later, he was once again a jury member for the same channel for the talent show “Tu Sí que Vales”, presented by Christian Gálvez.
In 2014 and 2015 he respectively conducted two talk shows: “Traveling with Chester” (Four) “Al Rincón de Pensar” (Antena 3).
Another significant participation as a jury was in 2018 "Factor X" where he meets again with the presenter Jesús Vázquez, with whom he had his impasses in the past, so that he continued to be linked to Telecinco, even to the present day in the "Top Star" program where he is a jury with artists of the stature of Isabel Pantoja . Then in 2019 he directed “Todo es Mentira”, a program format based on fake news with a humorous tone.
Recently, since June 2021 presents “Everything is Truth”, In a duet with the actress Marta Flich. In a space of almost 2 hours they present investigative reports that dismantle fake news, so the essential objective is the search for the truth. Risto, as the main presenter of the program, is going through the fifth installment flowing in the harsh and critical tone that characterizes it, so get ready to see the range of controversial topics that he will put on the table.
Regarding the world of advertising and communication, this celebrity has maintained a notable participation, has been the image in advertising campaigns of some companies, among which stood out that of a major technology company.
As he is very good at all roles in the field, He has also been an editor as well as creative director in some of the most recognized agencies in Spain, imprinting on them his efficiency and creative genius, which have earned him all the recognitions and awards that he has received.
Writer - Essayist-Poet. His Most Popular Books
His intellectual traits have been marked since he was a child and in his mature age he has managed to produce 9 books. He has been Editor of a column in «DNA» of the «Planet Group«. He was a columnist for El Periódico de Catalunya, a task that earned him the GoliAD Award for the Best Initiative in Press 2013.
In his facet as a writer there is a mixture of themes that are adapted to the present, which show traits of his personality with a direct, clear and open language. Master and speak about economics, politics, advertising, marketing, branding, television, etc. According to his readers, his books provide guidance on a different way of understanding success.
In the world of literature, he has written poetry, articles, essays, books, the last ten years being the most productive. Chronologically ordered, his books are: "The Positive Thought" 2008, "The Negative Sense" 2009, "May Death be with you" 2011, "Annoyomics" 2012, "Do not look for work" 2013, "Urbrands" 2014, "X" 2016 “Dictionary of things that I couldn't explain” 2019, and “El Chisme” 2021. He is also co-author of the publication “Marketing y Publicidad para Dummies” with Patricia de Andrés.
His books are available on different websites such as Amazon, La Casa del libro, and Planeta libro among others.
Awards and Honours
In his extensive and multifaceted career, he has been worthy of important awards and recognitions, to name just a few we have:
- Revelation Writer of the Year ”for his first work,“ El Pensamiento Negative ”at the VI Punto Radio Awards (2008).
- Award for the "Best News Program" known by the name "Aqui TV".
- Prize of the XXXI Edition of the ESPASA Prize with his Essay "Urbrands". (2014)
- "II Gaudí Gresol Award for" Excellence in Advertising "(2011),
- Chosen as one of the Best Creative Directors in Spain (2011).
- Tweets Awards 2013
- Men'sHealth Awards as Communicator of the Year (2014).
- Revelation Space Award of the Season for 'Traveling to Chester (2014)
- Honorary Member and Special Award for Professional Career (2015) at the International Festival of Social Advertising.
- He was also recognized by Esquire as Best TVR Communicator 2015, Digital Personality of the Year in 2015 and 1st Vertele Award for the Media Face with the most success on TV and Follow-up on Social Networks, with the “Best of the Best, 2016” according to Robb Report, and among the 25 Most Influential 2016.
Your Contact Means
This famous media figure has an official website, There you will find an ordered menu with biographical data, articles, books, conferences, companies, news and interviews.
On this website there are also the contact links to Gmail and all its social networks, and account “With more than 3,6 million subscribers; 2,7 million followers on Twitter and more than 1,3 million on Instagram, their accounts have an estimated total reach of 12 million hits (Source: Pirendo), their Twitter account ranked # 1 in Engagement in 2014 ( Source: SocialWin) after receiving the Tweets Awards 2013 in the Tweet140 category and being nominated for the 2013 Bitácoras Awards, the most influential personal account in Spain in 2013 (InfluyenTTes.org). " (1) https://ristomejide.com/
Relationship
This famous and versatile presenter has also experienced a love life fostered by the environment in which he operates. Two relationships have been important in his life. The first with the journalist Ruth Jiménez from whose relationship his son Julio Mejide Jiménez was born, in 2009.
His second significant relationship was with the model Laura Escanes with whom he married in 2015, and they procreated his daughter Roma Mejide Escanes. They are currently kept as a normal family.
Given its controversial nature, its way of evaluating and expressing its opinions has had innumerable problems in the medium, so in 2009 was excluded as a jury from Operación Triunfo, as a result of an argument that he held with Jesús Vázquez, in addition to the differences with the teachers and the strong controversies generated by his criticism of the participants.
He stayed away from reality shows for a short time, but he returns to the charge in “Tu Si que Vales”, he makes another pause as a jury, this time longer, to later join Got Talent Spain. Conflicts are somehow always present in his television career, but he has managed to deal with it very well and beyond affecting his career, he has boosted his success, he does not lack a correct answer in his speech.
In conclusion, Risto Mejide has found an excellent way to get the attention of the audience on television. The readers of his books express that in their content they find self-learning guidelines, mentoring and even personal growth to face the world in which we move today.
He has built a stable and lucrative business that he knows very well from its weaknesses and strengths, he knows how to generate feedback in public communication. His viperine language recognized by numerous phrases, arouses the interest of his fans and the media in general, especially in advertising, the small screen and more recently on social networks.
