'El Gordo y la Flaca' honored with individual stars on Hollywood Walk of Fame
HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Show hosts Lili Estefan and Raúl de Molina, best known for their show "El Gordo y a Flaca," were honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Thursday morning.
The dynamic duo has captivated Latino audiences since 1998. The two received their own individual stars near Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea.
Guest speakers at Thursday's ceremony included Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, singer Gloria Estefan, actor Paul Rodriguez, De Molina's daughter Mia De Molina, Lili Estefan's daughter Lina Luaces and Thalia.
Lili Estefan is a niece of Gloria Estefan's husband, music mogul and producer Emilio Estefan.
De Molina, who has been working in television for 31 years, said it was an incredible feeling to receive his star.
"I never in my life thought I was going to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and look now. Today, we have one," he said. "I came to L.A. for the first time when I was 20-years-old, they brought me to the Chinese Theatre."
Gloria, who served as a guest speaker, reflected on the importance of the honor being bestowed on two immigrants.
"As immigrants, it's very important for us to, you know, be an example for other immigrants to see that, you know through hard work and perseverance you can reach your dreams," she said. "We're a very close family and 'La Flaca' is like our kid."
De Molina emphasized that same sentiment.
"Anything that you want to do, you can get it done in this country. The American dream I think still is there," he said. "People should never give up, especially to our Latinos, ¡Sigue adelante! You're going to get it."
The duo received their own individual stars near Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.
The grateful duo say they have no plans of retiring their partnership anytime soon.
The stars are the 2,801st and 2,802 since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.
The show's title translates to "The Fat Man and the Skinny Woman,'' referring to De Molina and Estefan. It premiered on Sept. 21, 1998, and De Molina and Estefan have been its hosts throughout its run.
It's Univision's most-watched and longest-running series.
Estefan won a Daytime Emmy as outstanding daytime talent in a Spanish-language program in 2018 and was nominated for outstanding informative talk show host in 2021 and 2022 for her work on the Facebook Live talk show, "Red Table Talk: The Estefans.''
De Molina received Daytime Emmy nominations for outstanding daytime talent in a Spanish-language program in 2016, 2018 and 2019. His other honors include being selected as one of People en Español's most influential Hispanics in the United States.
"El Gordo y la Flaca,'' was nominated for Daytime Emmys for outstanding entertainment program in Spanish in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
De Molina was born March 29, 1959, in Havana. He joined his family in moving to Spain when he was 10 years old and to the United States when he was 16. He was a photographer for The Associated Press, Time, Newsweek, Paris Match, U.S. News & World Report and USA Today before beginning his television career with "El Gordo y la Flaca.''
Estefan was born on March 20, 1967, in Santiago de Cuba. After her mother died when she was 10 years old, Estefan moved with her father and younger brother to the United States. She began her television career in 1986 as a model on the long-running Univision variety show "Sábado Gigante.''
City News Service contributed to this report.
