He has appeared in numerous projects since, including the third season of Dancing with the Stars and as host for the syndicated entertainment news magazine shows Extra and Access Hollywood.

Lopez was born on October 10, 1973, in Chula Vista, California, the son of Elvira Soledad Trasviña and Mario Alberto López Pérez.

[3][4] His younger sister, Marissa, is married to former NFL Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans linebacker Kailee Wong.

[10] Lopez began acting in 1984 when he appeared as younger brother Tomás in the short-lived ABC comedy series a.k.a.

In March 1987, he was cast as a guest star on the sitcom The Golden Girls as a Latino boy named Mario who faces deportation.

In March 2006, Lopez joined the cast of the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful playing the role of Dr. Christian Ramirez.

[18] Later that year, Mario guest-starred as a plastic surgeon who drives Christian Troy to jealousy when he sees him naked in the shower in an episode of FX Network's Nip/Tuck during the show's fourth season, which began in autumn 2006.

Also in the fall of 2006, Lopez signed on as a contestant on the third season of Dancing with the Stars on ABC with professional partner and then-girlfriend Karina Smirnoff who was making her series debut.

In December 2020, Lopez starred as Colonel Sanders in A Recipe for Seduction, a short film from Lifetime and KFC.

Lopez is both the host (with Carmen Palumbo) and co-executive producer of Sí TV's Dating Factory.

[24] In September 2013, Lopez returned to the show as sole host for season 3 after Kardashian was not asked back as co-host.

Lopez has guest co-hosted The Wendy Williams Show,[28] and MCed the gala benefit for the 2010 Pageant of the Masters arts festival in Laguna Beach, California.

It streams online daily on iHeartRadio and airs on selected CHR and Hot AC stations (particularly on KBIG-FM/Los Angeles) throughout the U.S.

[31] Outside of TV, Lopez made his Broadway debut on April 15, 2008, in the revival of the musical A Chorus Line as Zach.

[43] After six years of dating, Lopez married actress Ali Landry on April 24, 2004, in a Catholic ceremony at the Las Alamandas resort outside Puerto Vallarta, Mexico,[44] but their marriage was annulled two weeks later.

[45] Lopez dated professional dancer Karina Smirnoff, his Dancing with the Stars partner, from 2006 to June 2008.