Sonia Mercedes Gisela Valcárcel Álvarez (26 January 1963 in La Victoria District, Lima) is a Peruvian television hostess, actress, and businesswoman.

Biographie

She started as a comic actress and a dancer ("vedette"), in the program Risas y Salsa and La gran Revista.

In 1987, Panamericana Televisión proposed conducting a Peruvian version of Hello Susana, which would be named "Alo Gisela". Valcárcel then became the queen of midday on Peruvian TV for several years during the late '80s and early '90s.

Her guests have been famous Latin American stars such as Julio Iglesias, Luis Miguel, Guillermo Dávila, Ricardo Montaner, Shakira, María Antonieta de las Nieves, Isabel Pantoja, José Luis Rodríguez, Menudo, Ricky Martin, Thalía, Paulina Rubio, Rocío Dúrcal, and Paloma San Basilio. Her TV shows were always very popular due to her interaction with the audiences, including phone conversations on TV and offering advice to the audience, especially housewives. At the same time, she founded "Amarige Salon & Urban Spa", a beauty parlor.

Gisela Valcárcel simultaneously hosted Saturday nighttime television shows in the late nineties and early 2000, including a local version of Big Brother named La Casa de Gisela.

Her latest project is a local version of Bailando por un sueño in franchise with Mexican TV station Televisa. In January 2009 she travelled to the United States to get a new franchise in the Natpe conference. In February 2009 she returned to Lima with her new TV project: El Show de los Sueños, again in a franchise with Televisa.

In 2009 she was selected to be one of the personalities to help the recycling campaign in Peru.

In 2010 she hosted "El Gran Show" (the great show).