The Untold Truth Of Gabriel Iglesias

There are few figures in the world of comedy more familiar than Gabriel Iglesias. One of the most successful and in-demand standup comics of his generation, the comedian nicknamed "Fluffy" has been cracking audiences up since 1997 and shows no signs of stopping.

As Iglesias' roster of screen credits on IMDb attests, in addition to headlining multiple comedy specials, he's also started to carve out a career as an actor. Iglesias was in "Magic Mike" and its sequel and went on to play the title role in his own Netflix sitcom. As Iglesias explained in an interview with Forbes, he thinks of himself fundamentally as a comic who occasionally acts. "I still feel like I have a lot of dues to pay as an actor...I still have to go through the process."

There's no denying that this multi-talented comedian and on-the-rise actor is at the top of his game, yet there's so much more to discover. With that in mind, keep on reading to delve into the untold truth of Gabriel Iglesias.

Back in 2006, Gabriel Iglesias was a star on the rise when he was among the many comedians to compete in the fourth season of NBC's comedy competition "Last Comic Standing." According to a report at the time from Reality TV World, Iglesias was disqualified and sent home when he was caught red-handed using his Blackberry to communicate "with a loved one." He reportedly violated his contract with the show, which forbade him from communicating with the outside world during the course of the competition.

"I tell people I made history: I was the first Mexican to be deported off of television," Iglesias joked to Las Vegas Weekly about his disqualification.

Recalling the incident with Arizona's East Valley Tribune, Iglesias was circumspect. "Everybody was doing something sneaky, and I just happened to be the one that got caught," he said, presciently predicting that being tossed from "Last Comic Standing" would not be a career killer. "The only thing I had to gain was the title and a big ego," he said. "Comedy Central is already giving me a one-hour special in February, and the money will come."

For years, Gabriel Iglesias has used the nickname "Fluffy" to describe his physique. As the comedian explained during an appearance on the "Rachael Ray Show," the moniker came from his mother. "One time I called myself fat around my mom, and she was like 'Mijo, you're not fat, you're fluffy!'"

Iglesias elaborated in an interview with Las Vegas Weekly, sharing his belief that the phrase "was an old saying back in the day and I just kind of rehashed that one." When his mother described him as "fluffy," he said, "I just kind of took that and ran with it. It's basically snowballed to the point where if you Google the word fluffy, my name will pop up in the top three. I think I'm behind pillows and cotton candy."

According to Iglesias, he finds "fluffy" to be "a cute word and socially a lot more acceptable than someone saying is fat or obese [sic]." This is particularly true, he added, when referring to a female. "If you call a girl fat, yo, she'll raise hell, but if you say, 'Aw girl, look at you, you're fluffy,' there's almost a sexy appeal to it," he explained.

Back in 2014, fans of Gabriel Iglesias noticed there was a lot less of their favorite comedian to love. "I'm down a hundred pounds. I have a lot more energy," he told NBC's "Cafecito." When asked what inspired his decision to lose weight, Iglesias offered a sobering response. "Death, bro! I didn't want to die," he said. "When you're young, you don't think about stuff like that, you're invincible."

As he explained in an Instagram Live interview with reporter Geoff Edgers (via The Washington Post), Iglesias had come to realize that the excessive weight he was carrying was also accompanied by some serious health issues. "I went to go see an endocrinologist and my sugar level was through the roof. I was basically peeing honey, that's what the doctor told me," he revealed. 

One way that Iglesias took control of his diet was by cooking for himself. "...I had never done that before. Preparing my own meals, I was able to control the amount of sugar going in, the carbs and everything," he said. "That's been a big help."

In 2019, Gabriel Iglesias showcased a whole new side of his comedic talents when he debuted his first-ever sitcom, Netflix's "Mr. Iglesias." With a premise reminiscent of 1970s TV comedy "Welcome Back, Kotter," Iglesias' was cast as a high school teacher employed at the same school where he was once a student.

In an interview with the AP, Iglesias described the show as essentially an "alternate" version of his own life. As he explained, "Mr. Iglesias" took a what-if look at the direction his life would have taken had he not embarked on a career in comedy but instead accepted an offer for a full scholarship to pursue an education degree and become a teacher.

However, Gabriel Iglesias told CinemaBlend that when he first pitched the show, his character was an auto mechanic, not a teacher. Iglesias didn't love it. He met with producers and suggested, "How about we not make the Mexican lead a mechanic? How about we do something that's not so, you know, stereotypical of a role." He then shared his own near-foray into a teaching career; producers loved the idea, and "Mr. Iglesias" was born.

For more than a decade, Gabriel Iglesias was in a long-term relationship with girlfriend Claudia Valdez and is close to her son, Frankie, per The Sun. Iglesias insisted on keeping his relationship with Valdez out of the public eye; in fact, the comedian offered a rare mention of Valdez — without identifying her by name — in a GoSeeTalk 2014 interview in which he briefly mentioned "my girlfriend."

In an old standup performance, Iglesias mentioned "the love and the support of" his family. "It takes a strong woman, first of all, to put up with me." The star brought up his girlfriend's son, Frankie, saying, "...he's technically my stepson" who had "been in my life for eight years." Iglesias said that he "hooked up with a beautiful woman who had a pre-started family...Basically, I took over a lease, is what happened," he quipped. The comedian proceeded to joke about then-15-year-old Frankie and his teenage mannerisms.

During a 2019 performance, reported KLAQ, Iglesias revealed that he and Valdez (still not stating her name) had broken up, telling the audience at the show that he had nothing negative to say about her. Despite the split, reported People, Iglesias remains close to Frankie. 

A 2017 standup comedy performance didn't go the way Gabriel Iglesias had planned when he was onstage and experienced what he later described to Billboard as "the meltdown of 2017." While discussing his son onstage, he found himself overcome by emotion due to the realization "that my son is no longer a kid. Now he's an adult, he's a man. And it hit me where I got choked up, I walked offstage, and I just I buckled," he said.

Iglesias ended up cancelling the remainder of his comedy tour, taking to Instagram to apologize to fans and explain that he was "dealing with some serious health and emotional issues that needed attention asap. Attempting to work through my problems was not going over and I had to stop everything b4 things got worse."

According to Iglesias, he had become "burned out" after "twenty years of the same thing with no breaks" and never taking a vacation. "I wasn't being creative anymore," he told Billboard. "It was becoming work. And I wasn't spending enough time at home and that was taking its toll as well." As he told People, Iglesias quit drinking for over two years in order to attempt what he described as "an emotional rebuild." 

Gabriel Iglesias was certainly not born into wealth, and it's easy to assume that the level of financial success he would go on to achieve far surpassed anything he ever could have imagined. Celebrity Net Worth, in fact, estimated Iglesias' net worth at $40 million, while he was said to be earning a whopping $20 million per year.

There are many revenue streams all flowing together to contribute to making Iglesias a very rich man. In addition to the paychecks he receives for his TV and film roles, he signed a three-project deal with Netflix that included two standup specials and his sitcom, "Mr. Iglesias." 

However, the biggest source of income for Iglesias has come from performing live. One of the busiest and most in-demand comedians internationally, Iglesias has spent two decades on the road, bringing his act to fans all over the world. According to Forbes' 2019 list of the highest-earning standup comics, Iglesias landed in sixth place with his 2019 earnings of $22 million. The five comedians to earn more were Kevin Hart, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Trevor Noah and Sebastian Maniscalco.