Silvio Santos: Relive moments when the presenter was politically incorrect and still got laughs from the audience

Silvio Santos, one of the greatest communicators on Brazilian television, died this Saturday (17) at the age of 93 from bronchopneumonia after infection with the H1N1 virus. He made many people laugh. His funny catchphrases became his trademark, although some of his ironic and controversial remarks often left guests disconcerted.

The presenter was prejudiced about the hair of actress Júlia Olliver, who plays Pata in “Chiquititas”. In 2014, when asked what career each of the actors in the children’s soap opera would like to pursue, she said she would be an “actress or a singer”. “With that hair?” was Silvio’s reaction, pointing to the child artist’s thick curly hair.

The ballerinas behind continued dancing and smiling, just like the musicians on the Titanic about to sink. The girl couldn’t hide her embarrassment and immediately wilted.

During an edition of Teleton, when a group of plus-size dancers performed on stage, Silvio, despite praising them, made them talk about their weights, and made an unpleasant comment to one of them, a black woman. “Whoever marries you will have two pleasures: one when it’s good and the other when it’s time to get off,” he said, always smiling. Ha-ha!

The presenter and owner of SBT has already declared his affection for Maísa, a beloved artist on the network, currently on Globo, but he has also made the actress cry live on his show. In one appearance, Silvio said that his pupil, then 15 years old, was already old enough to date and tried to set her up with presenter Dudu Camargo in 2017. Embarrassed, she left the stage in tears. Even after the reaction, he mentioned the possible relationship twice more.

On another occasion, when she was still 15, in 2015, Maísa received compliments from Silvio for having straightened her hair and for having grown it out. He then asked if the girl had ever been married, which drew laughter from the audience but left the young woman upset. “Now she’s a lady. Have you been married, Maísa?”

At other times, Silvio has shown that he has problems hugging women. When Cláudia Leite appeared on the show, the singer wanted to hug the presenter, but he said he couldn’t return the gesture because he was getting excited. “This whole hugging thing turns me on and I can’t get excited,” he said, leaving the Bahian woman embarrassed.

He repeated the blunder with Anitta, at the 2016 Teleton. Anitta performed and invited the presenter to dance too. Silvio declined the invitation and replied: “When I dance I get very excited, so is it better if I don’t dance?”