For years, the public knew her as the die-hard fan of Susana Giménez. Then came “Lorna Investigates”, that segment of Cuestión de Peso that ended up turning into a meme. But behind the friendly and spontaneous character there is a story shaped by the effort to understand codes that others take for granted.
This Friday, October 23, after the crisis she endured on the eltrece reality show, Lorna spoke on Puro Show and recounted in her own words how she lives with her condition, what happens when a familiar structure is disrupted, and why she needs time to process what causes her distress.
Lorna Gemetto: lawyer, journalist and a television personality
Lorna is 49 years old, a lawyer and a graduate in Communications Sciences. Her name began circulating in the media due to her admiration for Susana Giménez, whom she has followed since she was ten years old.
She met her in person at 19, after writing her a letter and receiving a reply. She even said she chose to study Law thinking that one day she could defend her.
Her stint on an earlier edition of Cuestión de Peso also left a mark: she led the segment “Lorna Investigates”, whose name crossed the program and became a phrase used on social networks when someone aims to uncover every last detail of a story.
A condition she could name in adulthood
“I spent my entire childhood, my adolescence and much of my adult life without knowing it,” Lorna recounted on Puro Show. According to her account, she began to find answers about 19 years ago, when an acquaintance first spoke to her about the possibility that she might be within the autism spectrum.
Lorna continues to use the term Asperger to refer to her condition, though she explained that she is currently understood to fall within the autism spectrum disorder of level 1. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders incorporated the former Asperger diagnosis into autism. The characteristics, abilities and support needs can vary from one person to another.
In her case, she described a great capacity for reasoning and logic, alongside difficulties solving certain everyday situations without consulting someone she trusts.
“If there’s a big, unexpected problem that isn’t easy to solve, I have to call some responsible adult, who may even be younger than me,” she explained.
The social codes and hypersensitivity
Lorna also shared that she has difficulties with fine motor skills and with certain social cues. “I don’t understand jokes, irony, jokes, or double meanings. It’s as if they were speaking in Japanese,” she stated.
Additionally, she spoke of her sensitivity to certain stimuli: some sounds, lights, smoke and other sensory situations can be hard to tolerate.
During childhood and adolescence, she noted, she tended to relate better to people who were younger or considerably older. With the former she felt she shared codes; with the latter she found a more understanding and protective gaze.
“They say we’re not very empathetic, but no. We are very empathetic with what we understand,” she said. Her testimony describes her personal experience and does not aim to represent all people on the spectrum.
Susana Giménez, an Interest That Helped Her Connect
Lorna identifies her admiration for Susana as her overriding topic of interest. Although she acknowledges that it is not common for that interest to be centered on a single person, she rejects the idea that it must be considered an obsession.
“I don’t think it’s more obsessive than a die-hard fan of Boca or River,” she explained. She also emphasized that she always respected the presenter’s personal space and that a warm bond was built between them.
In other interviews she noted that this admiration helped her come out of her isolation, connect with others, and become known. “Thanks to Susana I could start going out,” she had said when recalling a period in which she suffered abuse and found it hard to relate to peers.
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Why unexpected changes can trigger her distress
On Wednesday, October 21, Lorna broke down on Cuestión de Peso when a modification to the competition’s dynamics was announced. She said she was not willing to go through another “exchange plan” and that she needed to prioritize her psychiatric health.
On Puro Show, she explained what happened from her perspective. Pleasant surprises do not repel her, but she needs to prepare herself when she must face something that awakens fear, discomfort or stress.
“To endure the things I don’t like and that upset me, I have to have time to mentalize,” she noted. And she asked that, in the face of a crisis, people not try to minimize what she feels: “The worst you can do to me is tell me: ‘But it’s not serious.’ Let me ride it out and then we’ll see, because for me it is terrible.”
On Thursday, a medical board led by Alberto Cormillot decided that she could continue on the show following the routine she already knows. She will be kept out of the surprise dynamics, but also will not access any possible benefits. Lorna agreed with the measure and considered it fair for everyone.
Her account allowed looking at the scene from another angle: not as an exaggerated reaction to a television instruction, but from the experience of a woman who needs anticipation, companionship and time to process certain changes.
