A new talk show hosted by Father Alberto Cutié is about to premiere for a test run in some markets, perhaps trying to fill a void left by Oprah’s departure from the airwaves. Here is the write up in the New York Daily News about “Father Albert”:
Father Alberto Cutié knows something about personal problems, and he figures that will come in handy when he hosts a new daytime talk show.
Cutié was a Roman Catholic priest who left the church in 2009 because he fell in love with a woman. Now married and an Episcopal priest in Florida, Cutié figures having gone through his own struggles will help guests and viewers of “Father Albert.”
“I think I’m able to kind of tell them, you know what, you’ll be able to get over this,” says Cutié, whose show launches Monday at noon on WNYW/Ch. 5. “That’s when I pull out that card and say I’ve been able to overcome and you will overcome it, too.”
Cutié was ordained in 1995 and discovered a talent for being media-savvy. Soon, he was hosting Spanish-language radio and TV shows, where he helped people with everyday problems. The new daytime show, in English, is a return to a role he had for a long time before his personal life became a national issue.
“The dilemmas and problems are exactly the same,” Cutié says of today’s guests. “There are also a lot of new issues, with people posting things on the Internet, and betrayals because of Facebook.”
Yes, he’s also on those platforms, too. But he says, “I don’t tell people when I’m going to the bathroom and that stuff.”
Although he wears his church garb on the air, Cutié vows the show is not about religion.
“Everytime I’ve been in an interview or had any kind of intervention, I’ve always done it with my uniform on,” he says. “Not because the uniform is central to who I am. The uniform identifies my profession and what I do.”
There are no human problems or dilemmas he’s not willing to tackle on the show.
“I won’t exploit people’s problems,” he says. “I’ve been in a place before where I’ve seen where talk shows can go. There’s all types of talk shows, where you have chairthrowing and the constant screaming and cuss words. I’m not about to go there.”