Raúl 'El Gordo' De Molina Reveals Philanthropic Side, Shares Career Beginnings And New Year's Eve Plans [EXCLUSIVE]

Many of us know Raúl De Molina as “El Gordo” from “El Gordo y La Flaca” but not everyone is familiar with what the 56-year-old host is all about: sacrifice, honesty and humility. Raúl left his home country, Cuba, when he was 10 years old. After spending 6 years in Spain, his family decided to relocate to Miami, where he had to enroll in high school without speaking English.

“When I was in junior high in Spain, my mother bought me a camera because I was going to France on vacation and I started taking pictures, and I loved taking pictures,” he told Latin Times. “So, when I came to the U.S. when I was 16 years old and I went directly to high school, I didn’t speak English. So, one of the things that helped me out a lot was that I loved taking pictures, so I started taking pictures for the yearbook and for the school’s newspaper…I spent all my time taking pictures of the cheerleaders,” he joked.

After graduating from high school, Raúl was determined to pursue his dream of becoming a news photographer and attended The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. His charismatic drive and hard work led to a job offer with The Detroit News, which he decided to take but soon enough he realized that it wasn’t meant to be and returned to Miami, where he began working as a freelance photographer.

“I took my portfolio to different newspapers in New York, and I kept freelancing and my pictures started getting published in TIME, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report. I started freelancing and then the series ‘Miami Vice’ started and I started taking paparazzi pictures of Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas that were extremely famous in the 80s, and that was the most famous television series in the United States that was seen all over the world,” he recalled. Raúl’s photography work throughout the years includes shots from big personalities such as, Princess Carolina of Monaco, Princess Diana, Princes Charles, Oprah, Jane Fonda, to name a few.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Raúl was invited to several TV shows hosted by some of the greatest entertainment and non-entertainment reporters, Geraldo Rivera, Maury Povich, Cristina Saralegui, and the late Joan Rivers. These appearances caught the attention of one of the biggest Hispanic networks in the country, and the rest is history.

17 years later, Raúl “El Gordo” De Molina is one of the most beloved TV hosts in Hispanic television. “They see me in the streets and they say ‘You are like my family, I watch you every day,’” De Molina said about the thousands of fans that stop him during events to greet him. “Sometimes my wife says, ‘you act like an 18 year old’ and I say, ‘not only do I think I am 18 years old, I AM 18 YEARS OLD!’ So, that’s how I behave and I think that’s why people like me because I don’t act on TV, I’m the same way in person.”

Raúl and Lili Estefan have been hosting Univision’s “El Gordo y La Flaca” since 1998 and they are the network’s #1 rated entertainment news show. “We just concentrate on entertainment stories, funny stories, having fun on the show, and I think that’s why the show has worked, because it’s not a regular entertainment show. Our show is full of characters and we are able to mix the comedy with the entertainment, and that makes good entertainment,” he mentioned.

Raúl shared some of the show’s future ventures with Latin Times and revealed that they are currently working on their Holy Week (Semana Santa) content, “I’m going to Israel on January 17, I’ll be there for about 8 days because I’m going to be doing some stories for the show that are going to be airing during ‘Holy Week.’ So, I’m going to go there and prepare a bunch of stories, I’m going to go to Jerusalem, and other places and I’m going to do mostly stories that have to do with Catholicism, you know, Catholic themes, where Jesus was born, and where he died.”

The globe-trotter added that he would love to go back to his homeland, Cuba, in 2016 and have the possibility to bring the show with him but that is only a New Year’s wish as of now, “One of the things that I’d like to do, and I’ve said this before, is to do the show from Cuba. I left when I was 10 years old and I have never been back, so I would love to do it.”

Throughout the interview, Raúl shared his excitement about spending New Year’s Eve in Times Square, however, he mentioned he was not excited about the heat in The Big Apple this winter, “I think the show is going to be great, we are going to be live from New York, and live from Disney World in Florida, Disneyland in California and Mexico. We are going to have the group of ‘La Banda,’ which is called CNCO, Sofía Carson, and many more…and the only thing that I hate about this year is that it’s so hot in New York. You know, I live in Miami. I want to come here and I always, really, every year I’m just hoping that on December 31st there will me 4ft of snow in Times Square and it never snows in Times Square,” he added.

As an entertainer, Raúl has managed to win the hearts of thousands, if not millions, of Hispanics that eagerly wait for “El Gordo y La Flaca” to air on Univision every day. As a human being, he aims to give back to those who need a helping hand. As a kidney cancer survivor, Raúl tries to stay in touch with organizations that help people who are going through tough times, “I just finished doing a calendar for the Miami Children’s Health Foundation, where I photographed 12 kids and it really touched my heart, I couldn’t believe it. It was an incredible thing and to me, it was one of the nicest things I’ve done lately because it really made me feel like, I couldn’t believe it that all these people were having all these problems.” The calendar is available for purchase now. For more information go to mchf.org.

We asked Raúl if he was happy with the way his career turned out, and even though he admits he never expected to end up in Television, he is blessed to be able to do what he does and wouldn’t have it any other way. Right now, he is getting ready to host Univision’s “Feliz 2016” live from Times Square in New York City, where he will share a message with Latinos all over the country at 11:00 p.m. Don’t miss our favorite Cuban host live from NYC tonight on Univision, and Happy New Year everyone!