Benidorm loses a legend: How Sticky Vicky became beloved by Brits after turning her ballet skills into X-rated ‘sexy magic’ show with ping pong balls, was watched by six million people – and faced court battle with rival Sticky Barbara

• Vicky’s family announced her tragic passing on social media earlier today 

Once hailed as an ‘institution’ by British tourists in Benidorm, the death of 80-year-old entertainment icon Victoria María Aragüés Gadea – better known as ‘Sticky Vicky’ – leaves a hole in the identity of the popular Spanish travel hotspot.

‘I am left with a broken heart,’ her daughter wrote on Facebook this morning, confirming her mother had died earlier today. Reports pointed to her battles with ‘a long illness’, though her cause of death has not been officially announced.

Grandmother Vicky, remembered for her so-called ‘vaginal magic show’ performed over an illustrious career spanning 39 years, became a cult hero after moving to the coastal city in 1980 and innovating a creative new act at the peak of post-Franco sexual liberation.

At the height of her success, the trained ballet dancer was even moved to battle rival entertainer ‘Sticky Barbara’ in the Spanish courts as she fought for legal recognition of her world-famous moniker.

She was once described by a guide to Benidorm as a ‘must-see’, claiming that leaving without experiencing her show would be like buying fish without chips or turning on the TV to see Ant without Dec.

The mother-of-two finally retired from her act in 2016, aged 72, after stunning millions with her X-rated tricks that made creative use of household objects including ping-pong balls, razor blades and beer bottles.

Tenerife-born Vicky (pictured in 2011) spent 35 years entertaining millions of tourists with her X-rated routines

Benidorm legend Sticky Vicky has died aged 80, it has been announced

Victoria was born in Tenerife on April 15, 1943, growing up on the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands through the early years of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. She moved to Barcelona with her mother after her father left the family and began her career as a dancer from a young age.

At the time of her retirement, Vicky Leyton – as she later became known – she claimed she had been working since the age of just 11, and put 15 years into training as a classic ballet dancer before finding her feet on the world stage.

READ MORE: Sticky Vicky dies aged 80: X-rated Benidorm legend passes away ‘surrounded by her family’, her ‘heartbroken’ daughter reveals

In the Catalan capital, Vicky found success as a contortionist and dancer, in adult life managing the day to day operations of El Molino – the windmill -, a theatre on Barcelona’s Avinguda del Parallel.

With Franco’s death in 1975, and the relaxation of social norms in Spain’s large metropolitan cities, Vicky met demand for more risqué shows, innovating a performance that involved removing unusual objects from sensitive areas.

With the Spanish public captivated by her act, Sticky Vicky moved to Benidorm on Spain’s east coast in the early 1980s. Since the package holiday explosion of the 1960s, Brits had been filling Spanish watering holes, seeking sun, sea, sand and entertainment at an affordable price.

Vicky’s pioneering act was received well by the Brits as she explored more creative spins on her original performance. ‘To do what I do you must have a lot of delicacy,’ she explained in a 2016 interview with El Español. 

‘It’s important to be delicate so that it doesn’t hurt the public to see it, especially women. You can’t do it in an ordinary way. You have to give it a touch of elegance.’

Over the course of her career, she experimented with her performance, making use of items including lightbulbs and razorblades to wow audiences.

‘These are things that have cost me a lot,’ she said in 2016. ‘Over the years, I have cut my lips several times and I had to go to the hospital twice because a bottle had broken down there. The doctor asked me and I didn’t know what to say. I was embarrassed!’ 

‘Sticky’ Vicky Leyton performs her famous act in Benidorm, Spain in 2011

For nearly forty years, Sticky Vicky kept up the act, entertaining millions of tourists with X-rated show. In 2007, it was estimated as many as six million had seen her performance – a figure larger than the populations of Tenerife, Barcelona, Benidorm and the capital of Madrid put together.

READ MORE: I’ve visited more than 1,600 pubs – but even I wasn’t prepared for X-rated Benidorm magic show 

Two years on, Vicky’s success found her in court, challenging rival ‘Sticky Barbara’ after finding she had registered the name Sticky Vicky as her own.

Judges sided with the real Sticky Vicky in 2009 after ruling Spaniard Maria Rosa Pereira had acted in ‘bad faith’ and telling Vicky Leyton she was the legal owner of the trademark.

The same year, she appeared as herself as a supporting actress in ITV’s hit sitcom, Benidorm, opening Mel’s Mobility Shop in the first episode.

Vicky performed her last show in late 2015 before undergoing a hip operation. Early the next year, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and formally announced her retirement aged 72.

Two years ago, her daughter confirmed her mother had ‘won her fight against cancer with radiotherapy and chemotherapy’ but had since been diagnosed with dementia.

‘It’s something that’s come on quite recently and her memory is still good but it’s obviously something that’s going to get worse.

‘I’m living with my mum and am acting as her full-time carer,’ she said at the time.

‘She’s living a peaceful life and spending lots of time at home but hopefully she’ll be able to get out a bit more once she has had her second hip operation.’ 

Vicky agreed to transfer the trademark on her stage name to her daughter, who announced she would ‘return with the show’ her mother did.

‘It will be for British tourists in the Little England area where she used to perform and I’ll be doing the same sort of vaginal magic tricks my mum was famous for along with other things to give it a personal touch like balance tricks and if the venue is big enough, trapeze stunts and an aerial performance.’

‘I’ll be performing on my own. My mum’s the legend and we’ll have to see how the audiences take to me but I’m a hard worker and a survivor and hopefully I’ll do her proud,’ she said. 

Again in July 2022, Vicky was hospitalised after hurting her knees when getting into a car. She was released after a few days in hospital, but was returned quickly when she experienced pain and a possible infection. 

Vicky (right) is pictured with her daughter in a social media post. Maria Gadea Aragues said she would continue her mother’s performance in Benidorm

Vicky was taken to hospital after falling over while getting into a car earlier this year, aged 79

Victoria María Aragüés Gadea trained as a dancer and brought entertainment to millions over a lengthy career, redefining the limits of what could qualify as entertainment in a post-dictatorship Spain.

Looking back on her lengthy career, she once reflected: ‘I never thought I could be on a stage at my age, and it is all thanks to the English public.’

Source: Read Full Article