First elimination for La Casa De Los Famosos set for Feb. 23 after Horacio Pancheri saves Celinee Santos
Television audiences will learn the first eviction from la casa de los famosos on Monday, Feb. 23, following a weekend gala in which a contestant was removed from the nomination slate. The move reshaped the pool of contenders facing the public vote ahead of the show's January opening-week elimination.
La Casa De Los Famosos: Development details
The first-week nominees named for the 2026 season were Sergio Mayer, Oriana, Celinee Santos, El Divo, Zoe Bayona and Kenny Rodríguez. During the Sunday gala hosted by Javier Poza and Jimena Gallego, Celinee Santos was selected from the list of nominated participants and then taken off the elimination board when fellow housemate Horacio Pancheri used a weekly privilege to save a colleague.
The Dominican contestant Celinee Santos thus exited the nomination slate; the remaining nominees stayed in place and will be subject to public voting. The show's format awards the ultimate winner a $200, 000 prize, a figure organizers have confirmed for this season.
Context and escalation
The gala that set these developments occurred the weekend before the scheduled announcement of the first eliminated participant. Horacio Pancheri obtained a specific in-game advantage during the week's competitions that granted him the ability to remove one name from the list of those at risk. He exercised that privilege to remove Celinee Santos from the nominations, directly altering who now faces elimination when the result is revealed on Monday, Feb. 23.
What makes this notable is how a single in-game power shifted the roster of vulnerable contestants from six to five, concentrating public voting leverage on the remaining names and changing short-term survival dynamics inside the house.
Immediate impact
The immediate effect of Horacio Pancheri's decision is concrete: Celinee Santos is no longer on the public ballot for this first eviction, while Sergio Mayer, Oriana, El Divo, Zoe Bayona and Kenny Rodríguez remain exposed to viewer voting. Housemates will continue competing in the environment of la casa de los famosos with one fewer nominee, which alters alliances and potential voting strategies among contestants.
Hosts Javier Poza and Jimena Gallego led the gala where the action occurred. Production has confirmed that the remaining nominees will be saved based on positive votes from the public; in other words, audience support will determine which contestants are removed from the nomination list before the elimination announcement on Monday. The structural consequence is that public voting power, rather than internal immunity plays alone, will decide which of the five at-risk celebrities survives to the next round.
Forward outlook
The next confirmed milestone is the revelation of the show's first eliminated participant on Monday, Feb. 23. Until that announcement, public voting will determine which of the five nominees is spared. No additional changes to the nomination slate have been confirmed beyond the use of Horacio Pancheri's privilege to save Celinee Santos during the weekend gala.
After the Monday elimination, the competition will proceed toward its prize conclusion, with the $200, 000 award still standing as the season's top prize. For now, viewers hold the decisive role: their positive votes will rescue contestants from elimination and shape who remains in the contest ahead of that first departure.
