Gabriel Iglesias

Early life

Iglesias was born July 15, 1976, in San Diego, California, to Esther P. Mendez and Jesús Iglesias. His mother Esther raised him as a single mother. He is of Mexican heritage. He lived in Riverside, Corona, Santa Ana, Baldwin Park, and Compton before settling in Section 8 low-income housing in Long Beach, where Iglesias spent most of his youth.

Career

Iglesias worked for a cell phone company in Los Angeles and in 1997 went into comedy full-time, though it resulted in him being evicted from his home and losing his car.

In 2000, Iglesias appeared in the sixth season of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That, co-starring with Amanda Bynes and Nick Cannon.

Iglesias was a contestant on the fourth season of reality TV series Last Comic Standing in 2006, surviving elimination to become one of the final eight comics. He was disqualified at that point for having used a smuggled BlackBerry to communicate with family and friends, which violated the rules of the show.

In 2007, Iglesias voiced an entire Mexican family in "Padre de Familia", a sixth season episode of the Fox TV animated comedy Family Guy. That same year, he began voicing a recurring set of identical twin characters on The Emperor's New School, a Disney animated series that he describes as his favorite voice work.

In 2011, Comedy Central debuted Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand Up Revolution, a stand-up series that Iglesias produced and hosted, running for three seasons before ending in 2014.

Iglesias hosted/co-hosted six episodes of Equals Three, and played a strip club DJ and drug dealer in the 2012 film Magic Mike.

Iglesias voiced Ned and Zed in the 2013 DisneyToon Studios film, Planes. He also voiced characters in the animated films The Nut Job (2014) and El Americano: The Movie (2016).

Iglesias is featured in the reality series Fluffy Breaks Even, which premiered on Fuse on October 1, 2015. The show was renamed Fluffy's Food Adventures upon its third season renewal in January 2017. From 2019 to 2020, he played Gabe Iglesias, in Mr. Iglesias, a Netflix original series about a teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. In 2021, he voiced the character of Speedy Gonzales in the film Space Jam: A New Legacy and Picchu in Maya and the Three.

In 2022, Iglesias was the first comedian to sell out Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The concert was released to Netflix on October 18, 2022, as Stadium Fluffy.

In 2025, Iglesias performed in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Comedy Festival, an event taking place from September 26th to October 9th. Iglesias performed on October 1st, the day before the seventh anniversary of the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that the Saudi government is using the comedy festival to whitewash its human rights abuses. Iglesias has performed in the region before, having spoken about performing in Saudi Arabia during his 2013 set "Aloha Fluffy: Live from Hawaii."

Influences and style

Iglesias' comedy influences are Paul Rodriguez, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, and Bill Cosby. He is known for his trademark Hawaiian shirts.

Iglesias often references his weight in his comedy. One of his most well-known sayings is "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy", which he proves by explaining the different "levels" of fatness. The five original levels, according to Iglesias, are "Big", "Healthy", "Husky", "Fluffy", and "DAMN!". A sixth level ("Oh, hell no!") was added in 2009, following its perceived discovery in Las Cruces.

Regarding how novice comedians can widen their fan base, Iglesias stated in a January 2016 interview:

Awards and honors

On February 10, 2012, Iglesias was presented with several awards by the city of El Paso, Texas, including the key to the city and the Beacon of H.O.P.E Award from the nonprofit organization Operation H.O.P.E. On March 12, 2025, Iglesias had his handprints and signature cemented at Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Personal life

Relationships

Since 2010, Iglesias has lived in Whittier, California. He was in a long-term relationship with Claudia Valdez, with whom he has a self-proclaimed stepson named Frankie whom he calls his son. According to a June 2020 People article, he and Valdez divorced in 2017, which led him to cancel some performances, and to quit drinking for two years. Despite the breakup, he still maintains a close relationship with Frankie, whom he helped raise.

Religion

In a 2024 interview with Neal Brennan, Iglesias stated that he did not grow up with a specific religion despite his family being originally Roman Catholic, since his mother held syncretist beliefs regarding religion—for example displaying crucifixes and images of the Virgin Mary alongside Buddha and Ganesh statues and wearing a Star of David necklace. He remained uncatechized and mostly uninvolved in organized religion during his upbringing, occasionally going to church on a friend's invite but ultimately shaping his moral framework based on his mother's guidance and personal experiences.

Health

In The Fluffy Movie, Iglesias describes how at his heaviest, which he states was 445 lb, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and with his blood sugar spiking to over 300 mg/dl (16.6 mmol/L) regularly, was given two years to live by his doctor. He said the shock of being told this had prompted him to reevaluate how he took care of himself and explained that he decided to lose weight to ensure his continued presence in the lives of his family. Iglesias described the struggle to incorporate a healthier lifestyle, relating how he was told by a specialist that his heavy touring schedule precluded him from being a candidate for bariatric surgery, and how he instead resorted to weight-lifting, Diamond Dallas Page Yoga, and a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, which helped him shed over 100 lb. Iglesias has also struggled with depression and alcoholism, which he attributes partly to burnout from his heavy touring schedule.

On July 15, 2021, his 45th birthday, he tested positive for COVID-19, and canceled his remaining shows at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts as well as the taping of his upcoming comedy special.

In his 2022 TV special Gabriel Iglesias: Stadium Fluffy, Iglesias further detailed that he lost another 70 lb in 2020 due to the lockdowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

• Hot and Fluffy (2008) Image Entertainment
• I'm Not Fat, I'm Fluffy (2009)
• We Luv Fluffy (2009)
• Aloha Fluffy (2013) Comedy Central
• I'm Sorry For What I Said While I Was Hungry (2016) Netflix
• One Show Fits All (2019) Netflix
• Stadium Fluffy (2022) Netflix

References

References

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2. Ushe, Naledi. (July 15, 2021). "Comedian Gabriel Iglesias Cancels Show After Testing Positive for COVID, Says He Feels 'Pretty Good'". [[People (magazine).
3. [http://fluffyguy.com/bio "Bio"] {{Webarchive. link. (April 18, 2012 . fluffyguy.com. Retrieved April 16, 2012.)
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7. (July 12, 2006). "NBC's 'Last Comic Standing 4' eliminates three, reveals Top 5 finalists". Reality TV World.
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12. Pena, Jessica. (January 6, 2017). "''Fluffy Breaks Even'': Season Three Ordered by Fuse, Show Title Changed".
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14. (2025-09-25). "Riyadh Comedy Festival: Mo Amer and Jack Whitehall join the list".
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16. (2025-08-11). "Saudi Arabia: Executions Surge in 2025 {{!}} Human Rights Watch".
17. (2025-09-23). "Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Comedy Festival Whitewashes Abuses {{!}} Human Rights Watch".
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19. "Kevin Hart, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle to perform at Riyadh Comedy Festival 2025".
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23. Garasa, Cesaro. (January 13, 2016). "Gabriel Iglesias hits stage - and Bakersfield restaurants". [[The Bakersfield Californian]].
24. Hinojosa, Alex (February 10, 2012). [https://archive.today/20120730061347/http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_19938025?source=most_viewed "Comedian Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias gets key to the city"]. ''[[El Paso Times]]''.
25. (March 11, 2025). "Comedian Gabriel 'Fluffy' Iglesias cements his place in Hollywood outside the TCL Chinese Theatre". ABC 7 News.
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27. (June 17, 2020). "Netflix Star Gabriel Iglesias on Why He Took a Break from Comedy: 'I Needed an Emotional Rebuild'".
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29. Neal Brennan. (March 31, 2024). "4 Comedians on Religion (Gabriel Iglesias, Taylor Tomlinson, Rainn Wilson, Judd Apatow)".
30. Iglesias, Gabriel. (July 15, 2021). "Important announcement I DON'T want to make on my bday ☹️ #gabrieliglesias #COVID19". Facebook.
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35. Hopewell, John. (May 20, 2014). "'El Americano 3D' Kicks Off Pre-Sales at Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety (magazine).
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37. Klein, Brennan. (July 3, 2025). "10 Ways Dora's New Movie Is Totally Different From The Animated Show".
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