Miss Czechoslovakia is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the creation of this beauty pageant. On that occasion, you organized a meeting of its finalists and winners.
At first, I called it Miss. But my wife Hanka talked me out of it, because she says it looks like a gathering of witches. So I finally dropped it. Five years ago we had a thirty year reunion and it was flawless too. But what happened here today, I haven’t experienced in a long time. Everyone broke free and my wife, who was in charge of the organization of today’s event, even had to refuse several accreditations in the last few days, because of how much interest there was in it.
You are a seasoned beauty connoisseur. If you look at the winners of the first years today, you will surely recognize that their charm has not left them even after years.
Look at Ivanka Christova. For the very first winner. True, she is plump today, but she has a beautiful face and still has such esprit and charm. She is, I think, fifty-three years old, a mature woman, even a grandmother. When I look at the former winners, they are still beautiful babies, really beautiful girls.
Today’s times also record mature beauties, do you also agree? Which famous person do you admire for how they can look even in old age?
Maybe not because of her looks, but Barbra Streisand. This is my life’s favorite. She is amazing, she has a specific kind of feminine beauty and ugliness. She is not very beautiful, she has a big nose and small eyes, but she is actually a beautiful woman in her own way. When he starts dancing and singing, that’s really something for me. All my life I admire her the most for that. If you ask me personally, it will probably be a bit older women, because I am eighty-two. To admire eighteen-year-old girls? I also stopped doing Miss because of that. As I got older, I was already two generations older than them. I like to look at a young girl, especially our beauties, but of course I prefer mature women.
Alena Šeredová, Diana Kobzanová and Miloslav Zapletal
You say that the secret of beauty lies not only in how a person looks, but also in how he communicates, how he can sell himself and everything together…
Also, what kind of personality it is, that’s terribly important. I think that was the most valuable part of our competition. We didn’t just look for beauties for the first time, we didn’t present girls only in swimsuits or evening dresses, but we also invented a free discipline for this. This means that the girls showed off what they can do. Some played the piano, others were majorettes.
You were looking for personality, not just beauty.
I don’t want to say that we were looking for intelligence. Of course, it undoubtedly belongs to the personality. But as I say, we were primarily looking for personality. And I think we succeeded. Look at Taťána Kuchařová, for example, she did not win Miss World and Miss Czech Republic just because she is a beautiful woman. She is also an amazing personality. Ivana Christová the same. And I could name ten more.
You’re done with Miss and the beauty pageant has lost its punch. What do you think it was?
I think that people have stopped enjoying it a little bit. Mainly because Michaela Maláčová founded her competitive competition and the girls who signed up for Miss suddenly “disintegrated”. Then there was some Miss Aerobics or whatever it was. Suddenly there were more Misses and the audience stopped being interested. That was the beginning of my decision to leave it. But mainly I left because I was already sixty-five and the new girls were eighteen. I felt like a grandfather and I just didn’t want to do it anymore.
After the end of Miss, your fourth wedding awaited you, you married your current lady. She is still beautiful too.
I’d like to say she’s beautiful because of me, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. I know she’s beautiful. It was also one of the reasons, but a small reason, why we became close and eventually became husband and wife. But my Hanka is also a wonderful character. If only you could see how my sons, children and grandchildren all love her! She can do it with them and I’m jealous of her. Little Albert comes to us and immediately it’s: Grandma, grandma! And behind her, I stand next to her like a confectioner. That’s one thing. The second thing is that she is a really excellent organizer. She’s a smart girl, isn’t she! I love her. Imagine really loving even at the age of eighty-two! I truly love her.
