Raúl de Molina

Cuban-American television presenter known as El Gordo.

Raúl was born in Havana and in 1969, at age 10, he moved with his mother to live in Spain, though after some years they emigrated to the United States.

The Cuban presenter graduated in photography and art from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Over time he began publishing his work in Times, Newsweek and other important magazines in the 1980s.

In his youth he was only interested in covering news as a photographer, and he did so for Associated Press as a freelancer. In the 80s he had to wear a bulletproof vest to take photos in areas where drug smuggling was occurring in Miami and he also had the scare of his life in Haiti when the car he was traveling in was hit by several bullets.

The success of the Miami Vice series was a magnet that attracted many celebrities to the City of the Sun, a moment that was seized by Raúl to transform himself into a paparazzi. His lens captured Don Johnson, Oprah Winfrey, Princess Diana during her vacation with her children, Caroline of Monaco and other famous people who made the covers of magazines and newspapers in those years.

Currently, he is the presenter of the daily television program El Gordo y la Flaca on Univision, alongside Lili Estefan. Due to his program's ratings, People magazine and other media consider him one of the most influential Hispanics in the United States. He worked on programs such as Primer Impacto, Ocurrió Así, Hola América and Club Telemundo, among others.

"I never thought I would dedicate myself to television. However, only on El Gordo y La Flaca am I going to complete 20 years. Fortunately, the audience levels remain as good as when it started," De Molina told el Nuevo Herald in an interview published in 2018.

In 2010, People en español magazine selected him on the list of the most elegant people, when it was not common for plus-size personalities to appear on these lists.

At age 11 he became interested in photography and, since then, De Molina has published his images in national and international media such as Time, Newsweek, Life, Hola and París Match, among others, and has presented several exhibitions in art galleries showing his work in large format. He has also taken photographs for charity calendars.

In 2003, Raúl de Molina published a book based on interviews he himself conducted with celebrities, with exclusive photos. Additionally, he was a special contributor to the Spanish version of Travel + Leisure magazine.

In 2008, Random House published his second book, called La dieta del gordo, where he shared his experiences with obesity since childhood and the successful formula that led him to lose 70 pounds, without going hungry.

The well-being of children is one of his causes, which is why he collaborates with charitable organizations such as Voices for Children and the Miami Children's Health Foundation. He was the spokesperson for Slimfast and AT&T and will soon publish a photographic memoir of his travels around the world.

Raúl de Molina has been accused of sexual harassment by at least two singers, Virggi López and Lucía Mendez in his jacuzzi section within his program "El Gordo y la Flaca".

He has received several Emmy awards and his most recent nomination was in 2016.

With more than two decades as co-presenter of Univision's gossip show El Gordo y La Flaca, work that he shares with Lili Estefan, De Molina has managed to amass an enviable fortune that amounts to $50 million. The famous Gordo receives an annual salary of $15 million. And for his work on the afternoon program he earns around $63,000 monthly.