Santiago Zagalo Interview
PRODUCER: What did you think of Zanna’s career, Santiago?
SZ: [Clears throat.] It’s strange to try and explain to people what Hannah, that’s what I named her and so have always called her, did. And when they google her, they find bikini pictures, walking around in miniskirts, sex toy reviews on her blog.
I’m from a Catholic family, so, for me, where I come from, that is not considered to be an . . . acceptable form of work.
To me, it was not a real job. Not like my other daughters, who worked hard at school, studied for many years. They are private girls, modest. Hannah . . . [Sighs.] We spoiled all of the girls, but Hannah perhaps the most.
Hannah and I had stern words numerous times about what she was putting online. Bikini shoots. Suggestive pictures with nudity. Videos dancing in clubs in Ibiza wearing tiny clothes. Swearing online. Any father would be displeased. In my family, making money is not reason enough to disgrace yourself. To put your body on show. However, Hannah was not entirely self-sufficient. She asked me for more money, to “invest” as she called it, on her website. At first, I helped, but when I saw what it led to, I was displeased.
I was angry, but she refused to listen to me. So, eventually, after many warnings, I cut her off financially.
PRODUCER: What prompted this decision?
SZ: Firstly, she wanted my help to buy a flat for her and her boyfriend to live in. I said, where is all this money you claim to be making from the website going? She told me, well, it’s not that much, she still couldn’t afford the deposit, all this. But I saw her boasting about the money she was earning from the blog online. There was a never-ending stream of designer clothes at her house. Her hair cost hundreds of pounds for all these Brazilian treatments, whatever ridiculous thing it is. She had an £800 pair of trainers. And yet she still felt entitled. She always seemed to feel so entitled. I grew up without so much money. It shocked me. It offended me.
I said, Hannah, no. You’ve had enough from me. If you want this flat, you’ll have to buy it yourself. And then of course there are the tears, the swearing, and finally I said, you are ungrateful. Enough is enough. No more money from me.
These girls, these days, see something online and think they can just have it, like that — [snaps fingers] — no hard work. I worked hard for what I have.
Secondly, there was the business with the profile online.
PRODUCER: Did you think it was real?
SZ: I don’t know. Hannah was always a dark horse, the daughter I understood least. When she was growing up, I was afraid of her. Always so grown up, even as a child; I was always afraid of the things she might do. She had an appetite for danger. I hoped for her sake it was not real, but it did sound like her. Like my daughter. It broke my heart. I was disgusted. I said, this is where all this blogging brings you, to be accused of selling your body online? It was the last straw. I said, Hannah, I don’t want you in whatever business this is. I refused to support her financially anymore, until she changed her lifestyle. It was a humiliation for me. Do you know what it is like to have your own parents ask you what your children are doing, only to find sexy pictures online? Business partners and old school friends, who took an interest in my family life, laughing behind my back at my daughter’s antics. It called into question my own parenting, my own values. Hannah reflected badly on me.
PRODUCER: Did your ex-wife support the decision?
SZ: To an extent, initially she did. We both wanted our daughter to rely less on us for money. But Angela was much softer on the girls. If she hadn’t spoiled Hannah quite so much, it might not have been necessary. Of course, this is not exactly how she remembers it. She blamed me and we never moved past it, well, as you can see.
[Holds his right index finger up to a bare ring finger on his left hand.]
She calls me a monster. I say, I did what any parent would have done with a daughter like Hannah.
PRODUCER: Do you regret it?
SZ: My regret is that I did not teach Hannah the value of hard work earlier in her life. I attempted to give her business advice, but evidently it fell on deaf ears. She never spoke to me again, and hardly to her mother, in that short time after we cut her off, before she died. I regret that, too. But ultimately, that was Hannah’s choice.