Verdades Secretas is a Brazilian telenovela created by Walcyr Carrasco and directed by Mauro Mendonça Filho. Produced and broadcast by Rede Globo, it was aired from 8 June to 25 September 2015, with a total of 64 episodes broadcast over 16 weeks. The telenovela was the first original production in the 11 pm timeslot, having all its four predecessors being primarily remakes. Starring Camila Queiroz, Grazi Massafera, Rodrigo Lombardi, Agatha Moreira, Reynaldo Gianecchini, Marieta Severo and Drica Moraes in the main roles. The plot mainly features the story of a lass, Angel who is lured by a famous modeling agency that secretly recruits young women to prostitution and the life of the models behind the curtains, a dangerous obsession of a man that put mother and daughter on a crazy love triangle and drug addiction. Verdades Secretas was one of the most successful telenovelas of Rede Globo in recent times, having achieved a viewership rating of 19.81 points, the highest, despite its 11 pm timeslot. In June 2016, Globo Marcas released a DVD of an edited version of the telenovela, consisting of 25 episodes. Verdades Secretas received praise from critics, and was prized as Best Telenovela at the 44th International Emmy Awards, becoming the fifth telenovela of Rede Globo to win the category in a row. The telenovela also received nomination for Best Actress for Grazi Massafera performance.
Plot
Fame, power and money. Skin-deep pleasure. Pulsating passion. Intense frenzy. Seductive situations that can be deceptive, the leading character in the telenovela is Arlete, a beautiful young girl full of dreams. She arrives in São Paulo willing to become a model, but she ends up working as a luxury prostitute. Hit by the needs that life imposes, she cannot overcome the traps disguised as opportunities, allowing herself to be taken by an obscure reality, which goes far beyond the catwalks. This is when Alex, a powerful, rich, seductive and experienced man, comes into her life. She is enchanted by Alex. And he is mesmerized by his young lover. Alex fakes his love towards Angel's mother and proposes her so he can hurt Angel. Alex get involved with both Angel and her mother Carolina and offers luxury to both of them. In the last episode, Carolina finds out the truth and shoots herself after watching her daughter with her new husband in bed. Angel shots Alex on a boat in last episode and hide every evidence of the murder. After lying to police that he killed himself and fell into the sea she gets all the property and marries her boyfriend.
On a consolidated basis, the debut of the plot registered 22.9 points, same as the 9 pm telenovela Babilônia. The next day scored 20.2 points. In its third episode, Verdades Secretas scored 19 points. Record viewership took place on 22 June, when it recorded 24 rating points in Greater São Paulo. On 6 July, the show peaked at 30 points rating, closing with average of 26 that week. In its last week it hit a record audience on 21 July with 27 points almost surpassing the telenovela A Regra do Jogo. Sometimes higher viewer ratings than the Jornal Nacional, as on 27 July, when the plot registered an average of 25 points against 24 of the newspaper. In its penultimate episode, the telenovela aired from 11:30 pm to 12:37 am, despite being displayed later time than schedule, it scored average 24.3 points. On the last episode scored 27 points, its highest ratings since its debut.
Repercussion
In Brazil, the telenovela was broadcast in the 11:00 pm time slot and recorded an average 43% share and more than 18 million viewers. It was also widely commented on Twitter, while being broadcast, generating more than three million comments. The #verdadessecretas hashtag was the most used, with 2,817,827 mentions. In second place was #angel, the name young Arlete uses after entering into the fashion world. The telenovela's finale garnered more than one million mentions. In Europe, Hidden Truths has been broadcast by Armenia TV and SIC, while it has also been licensed in Ecuador, Bulgaria, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, United States, and South Korea. The telenovela was nominated to the 2016 International Emmy to Best Telenovela and Best Actress, for Grazi Massafera's performance as Larissa, one of the format's main characters.
