The performance artist, who also goes by her mother’s stage name Sticky Vicky, reveals she was as shocked as anyone to hear she’d apparently taken her final bow – and has no plans to shut up shop in Benidorm.

“It’s not real!” she tells us. “I’ve just been on my holiday. I’m actually launching a new cabaret show at the Talk of the Coast bar. The first performance is March 30. At half-past 12 every night.”

You can hardly blame the performer for taking some time off.

She may be the go-to entertainment for holidaymakers escaping their 9 to 5 lives, but – when she’s on the job – Maria works seven days a week, delighting die-hard fans with her X-rated magic show.

The Benidorm star has been doing it for two years now now, after taking over from her late mother – the original Sticky Vicky, otherwise known as Victoria María – when she died in 2023, aged 80.

For decades, Maria, who was a trained ballet dancer, had wowed the crowds and defied the laws of physics with her illusionist show.

The act involved dancing, acrobatics, and – in an iconic display of physical dexterity – pulling objects including ping pong balls, razor blades, eggs, handkerchiefs and even machetes from her private parts.

Victoria continued the act throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s – quickly becoming a must-see for Benidorm visitors eager to get the authentic experience on the Costa Brava.

She duly raised her daughter, Maria, to follow in her nimble footsteps, training her to replicate the act.

Maria, who declines to give her age – telling us “age is just a number – and I like to leave people guessing!” – is an acrobatics expert.

Before her mum passed away, she promised her she’d continue the Sticky Vicky legacy, and she hasn’t looked back.

“She was very proud,” Maria tells us. “I wanted to keep the name going, the legend going. I do it for her.”

Having taken a little breather, where she’s focused on teaching dance and acrobatics in Barcelona, the illusionist promises us big things for her next Benidorm act.

There will be “new music, new costumes, new choreography,” but the same iconic magic show that her mum made famous.

“It’s still my mum’s legendary show,” she promises.

As for the “sticky” impersonators who are trying to get a piece of the pie by offering their own X-rated magic shows on the Benidorm strip, Maria says she’s not threatened. After all, she’s the real deal.

“I’m proud that so many people want to copy the act, but they can’t do it like me,” she says.

“I am my mother’s only daughter and I am the only one she taught. I’m the only one who can do it just like her. Everyone else is just a copy.”

She adds: “I’m so thankful to all the people who come and see the act. I strive to reach my mum’s level and keep the legend alive.”