On the great stage of life, where health plays the leading role, Gabriela Spanic steps into the spotlight with the dramatic force that has always defined her, the same intensity that has captivated audiences countless times through her unforgettable villainous roles. This time, Gaby isn’t drawing us into the plot of an impossible romance or a family rivalry. Instead, she’s sharing a real-life story that could help save lives: the early detection of colon cancer.
With her charisma and unmistakable intensity on the small screen, Gaby is now the face of the Cologuard Plus ® campaign, a convenient and easy-to-use non-invasive test, supported by Abbott, that can detect this type of cancer with up to 95% effectiveness 1,2,. The Venezuelan-born actress, who has spent more than 35 years in front of the camera, is using her voice for a powerful call to action, with a nostalgic nod to the melodramas that made her famous. In an interview with ¡HOLA! Américas, she shares the personal reason she accepted this role and chose to address the Latino community. Her own family has endured painful moments because of cancer, an experience that inspired her to film this commercial, where her strong voice contrasts with the silence of a disease that affects thousands of people every year.
© Courtesy Cologuard PlusScience is advancing, medicine is advancing. We have the tools, and we have no excuses not to take care of ourselves, to exercise, to nourish ourselves, and to love ourselves more each day. We also have the strength to get this test, which is so important.
“When we started filming the commercial, it was so much fun to revisit the villains, that television character, all that drama,” she tells us, delighted to be part of the campaign. Filmed in Argentina, the commercial places her in a luxurious mansion alongside a telenovela heartthrob before revealing the contents of the at-home collection kit and showing just how easy and private it is to use.
“I think it was a really great idea from Cologuard Plus. I felt very honored that they invited me to participate as a representative of Latin America’s acting culture, especially with these iconic characters that have remained in our collective memory because our telenovelas are watched all over the world,” she says. “Bringing this message about medicine, taking care of your health and how early detection of a silent disease in time was very important to me.”
With screenings like this one, timing is vital, which is why testing is recommended starting at age 45 for those at average risk. Still, embarrassment, fear and silence often cause both men and women to delay going to the doctor.
“I don’t think it should be taboo anymore. In many families, women are so focused on their children, their parents and everyone around them that sometimes they don’t take care of their own health,” the actress says. “The years go by and they think they’re going to stay beautiful and young forever. But it’s very important to understand that in order to take care of the people you love, you have to take care of yourself.”
“You have to get that fear out of your mind. Fear isn’t an intelligent way to avoid or prevent any kind of illness. The smartest thing to do is make an appointment with a doctor in time and get advice on how to take care of yourself,” she tells us firmly. “If we have this opportunity, and science continues to advance and gives those eligible to use the test the chance to do it so easily and in the comfort of our own homes, why wouldn’t we do it?”
© Courtesy Cologuard PlusSpeaking from her own experience taking the Cologuard Plus test, Gaby tells us how easy the process was. The box includes step-by-step instructions, “with everything very clearly explained,” for collecting the samples, labeling them with personal information and the time they were collected, and immediately sending them to the laboratory, which provides results within a maximum of 10 days.
A Disease That Changed Her Family
Having screening tools like these readily available is especially important to the beloved La Usurpadora star. In 2020, her family experienced one of its most painful losses when her mother, Norma Utera, died of cancer, a disease that is once again present in their home.
“My mom died of throat cancer. She was very young, only 66. My dad now has skin cancer,” she says. “It’s a very difficult disease, and that’s another reason I said yes to this campaign. I really loved the idea of taking this life experience with my family and using it to talk about earlier detection of colon cancer.”
She also emphasizes the importance of turning to professionals and using verified tools when it comes to your health. “It’s worse not to get tested in time. Any kind of test.”
For the Spanic family, everything happened unexpectedly and was deeply painful. “When we found out about my mom’s cancer, it was already very late. My siblings and I would go with her to her chemotherapy treatments. We watched her suffer so much from a disease that consumes you,” she says. “It’s a disease that affects the entire family. You wish your mom or your dad could be with you forever, but that’s not the reality.”
My mother didn’t die of colon cancer, but she did die of throat cancer at a very young age, at 66. My father now has skin cancer. It’s a very difficult disease.
Among the memories she carries from those difficult days is the painful moment when she had to say goodbye to her mother from afar.
“When I had to say goodbye to her, I was working in Budapest, and I had to say goodbye over the phone. I couldn’t come back to see her,” she recalls. “I was with her at the beginning of the illness. She had supposedly been discharged and had responded well to chemotherapy, but suddenly the cancer spread from her throat to her brain, and it consumed her very quickly.”
“I couldn’t physically say goodbye to her because I was under contract, and it was very painful. I was on a dance show, and that day I dedicated my dance to my mom.”
Her mother’s absence hasn’t erased the advice or strength she instilled in Gaby and her sisters. Born in Venezuela’s central region, Norma grew up surrounded by nature as a country woman, homemaker and devoted mother who was always looking after her children.
“My mom always used to tell us, ‘Don’t be afraid of anything. Remember that God is with you, and I’m here too,’” Gaby recalls. “I’ll always remember her for that courage.”
Life can change in a second for better or for worse, so if we discover this in time we will have more time to take better care of our loved ones.
© Courtesy Cologuard PlusFrom her mother, Gaby inherited that unstoppable spirit and the energy to face whatever life brings. “I’m a mother, I’m a daughter, I’m a sister. I have a family. I’m a very proud single mother,” she tells us with a broad smile. “At home, I take care of my dad, my son and my animals because I also adopt dogs from the street and help foundations rescue animals.”
“I take care of my dad as much as I can. Because of his skin cancer, he has a fairly extensive treatment regimen with vitamins and creams for his skin. I have all of those responsibilities in my everyday life,” she adds.
But all the care she gives to others would be incomplete if she didn’t also take care of herself. “That’s why I’ve already taken my colon cancer test, and if I have to continue getting tested to prevent illness and stay healthy and strong for my loved ones so I can keep moving forward, I’ll do it,” she says with conviction.
Gaby Spanic also reveals that maintaining the joyful, feminine and beautiful energy she’s known for means taking care of her body as a whole. “I drink a lot of water, I train, I exercise, I get all of the recommended screening tests to rule out anything that might be wrong. That keeps me alive, healthy and stronger so I can keep moving forward,” she says. “You have to take care of your health through what you think, how you eat, how you exercise and the tools science gives you to take care of yourself and detect any illness in time, like Cologuard Plus does.”
And so, the actress known for playing villains in stories that have touched our hearts reveals that if her own life were a telenovela, she already knows what she would call this chapter: “Gaby Spanic in: Don’t Be Afraid, Cancer Can Be Detected Early.”
Learn more about Cologuard Plus and discover the benefits of colon cancer screening, including how use-at-home testing can make timely detection more accessible.
Cologuard Plus is a registered trademark of the Abbott group of companies.
1 Cologuard Plus Clinician Brochure. Exact Sciences Corporation. Madison, WI.
2 Knudsen AB, Rutter CM, Peterse EFP, et al. Colorectal Cancer Screening: An Updated Decision Analysis for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); May 2021.
