Was ‘Caso Cerrado’ Real or Not? La Doctora Polo Finally Reveals Truth
La Doctora Ana María Polo, 64, recently shed light on the true inner workings of her classic court show, “Caso Cerrado.”
You may remember watching reruns of Telemundo‘s show after school at your abuela’s house while sipping Nesqui’ or eating arroz con pollo. Dr. Polo was an immediate hit with many of our parents and abuelos, winning fans with her “tell it like it is” approach.
Well, the Cuban-American television arbitrator is finally speaking out about the truth behind the show— and many people are shook.
Last month, Dr. Ana María Polo appeared on Venezuelan television host Erika de la Vega’s podcast, “En Defensa Propia.” The hour-long podcast goes through the “Caso Cerrado” host’s early life in Havana, Cuba, “cancel culture,” menopause, retirement, and much more. However, Dr. Polo’s comments on the truth behind her iconic hit show are revelatory.
If you thought all of those cases on “Caso Cerrado” were real growing up… well, we have bad news. That being said, the people featured on the show weren’t actors, either. Confused yet? Here is everything Dr. Polo revealed about the truth behind her iconic 13-season-long court show that ended in 2019.
“Caso Cerrado” featured real people, not actors
On the podcast episode, host De La Vega asked Dr. Polo if her rulings on “Caso Cerrado” had real-life consequences. “Were your decisions [as arbitrator] on the show followed up with? Did people notarize your decisions afterward?”
However, La Doctora Polo pushed back on the question, answering it in an unexpected way. The longtime host described, “Look, Erika. ‘Caso Cerrado’ is a television show to entertain.” One note: if Dr. Polo ever addressed us by name with a “Look” in front of it… we would be deceased.
Later, the television star explained that her show intended to educate people in a fun way — and sometimes used fiction to accomplish that. Why? Well, reality can be boring. “Educating? It’s beautiful. If we educate a bit, that is marvelous,” Dr. Polo explained. “But if it’s just an educational show, it’s so boring.”
“People will yawn. You know that, I know that.” Yep, Dr. Ana María Polo always telling it like it is!
“It is a show featuring recreations,” she said. However, she explained that some people actually did come on the show to solve their issues. “There were people that were truly [in those situations], and the real people would come, and things would happen.”
Crazily enough, she explained that those same people would sometimes end up in court after going on the show. “I ran into people at court,” she recalled. Dr. Polo described how some guests signed real arbitration contracts on her show, too.
That being said, not everything on “Caso Cerrado” was so real — which you might have guessed long ago. “The rest of the cases, many of them were recreations,” Dr. Polo told the podcast host. “About real cases that had actually happened.” So, if it’s consolation to our abuelas, it seems like there was some truth to each of the show’s cases.
Later on, the lawyer and television host went straight for the show’s critics. “People say, ‘That’s all a lie,'” Dr. Polo explained. “The [show’s guests] weren’t actors… there are people who aren’t scared of the camera, who are naturals, who have an idea for something, and do it well.”
Adding, “The stories were real, and for me, that’s the mot incredible value of ‘Caso Cerrado.’ Because we’re telling a story that happened to someone.”
Meanwhile, many people on social media are sharing their own experiences with “Caso Cerrado.” And yes, it seems to line up with what Dr. Polo described on the podcast. One X user who appeared on the show as a child wrote: “The cases are real [by the way], just acted out by different people”:
Another X user wrote that their co-worker said they “acted on an episode on ‘Caso Cerrado’,” too:
And many others assure that they starred on the show themselves:
Tons of longtime “Caso Cerrado” fans still feel shocked when they find out much of the show featured courtroom recreations. Did anyone else spend their childhood thinking the show was real? Because we sure did:
As one X user hilariously wrote, they once “thought that if you got jury duty, you’d literally be in Ana María Polo’s court room.” LOL:
It’s true, once you know the truth… life is never the same:
Meanwhile, many other X users talk about Latino older generations refusing to believe “Caso Cerrado” isn’t real:
Should we tell them?
La Doctora Ana María Polo is a real lawyer and holds a PhD in law
Now that we know the truth about “Caso Cerrado,” we’re also looking into the truth about the show’s iconic host and arbitrator, Dr. Ana María Polo.
On one hand, we know Dr. Polo is a highly successful television host who starred in Telemundo’s “Caso Cerrado” from 2001 to 2019. But does she actually hold a PhD as her “Doctor” title proclaims? And is she actually a lawyer? Yes, on both counts.
According to her interview with Latino USA, Dr. Ana María Polo is an attorney who became a lauded television host later in life. Born in Havana, Cuba, she grew up in Puerto Rico, where she originally wanted a career in entertainment. At the time, her parents allegedly told her: “Niña, you gotta be a teacher or lawyer… Forget about music.”
So, it seems like Dr. Polo listened to her parents. Moving to Miami, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Florida International University in 1983. Later, she attended the University of Miami, where she graduated with a law degree. Other outlets report that Dr. Polo earned a PhD in law. In short? She knows her stuff.
As per her Telemundo biography, Dr. Polo practiced family law in Florida before eventually hosting “Sala de Parejas” in 2001 — which they later renamed “Caso Cerrado.”
Even more, Dr. Polo is also responsible for being the brainchild behind one of the best meme formats in existence: “Ningún good afternoon, ni ningún hello… aquí tu hablas español.” This meme was born after this clip of “Caso Cerrado” went viral, and for good reason:
Us? We’re never getting over it, and plan on using the quote whenever possible:
Where is Dra. Polo now after “Caso Cerrado” ended?
While you can surely still catch “Caso Cerrado” reruns, the show sadly ended in 2019.
Speaking about her life now on the podcast “En Defensa Propia,” Dr. Polo described: “I retired in 2019.”
Still, the lawyer said she had many offers after the show’s cancellation. “At that moment, I had many offers to remake ‘Caso Cerrado’ in other platforms.”
However, the subsequent pandemic put a pause on those plans. “The pandemic arrived. And the pandemic, even if people don’t want to recognize it, was really hard on us.”
“They have offered me things, but nothing concrete,” Dr. Polo continued. “[Nothing] for me to say yes, let’s do it with this group of people, this is working, everything is falling in place, nothing.”
So, what is her life like now? Pretty chill, actually. “So, I had one birthday, then I had another, then another, and I’m going to be 65 years old soon,” she said. Laughing and saying “She doesn’t feel so old,” she said she constantly receives Medicare pamphlets now.
“The calendar keeps running,” she described about getting older. “I’m not doing anything… It feels great.” However, she admitted that it was difficult for her to get used to the change of pace. “Sometimes it is difficult for us because we’re accustomed to always going fast, that excitement, I still feel that excitement,” she explained.
Us? We’re not watching “Caso Cerrado” reruns for the logic… we’re watching it for “the vibes”:
