Eduardo Verástegui is a right-wing, extremely religious former telenovela star with a penchant of spewing homophobic rhetoric who recently filed paperwork to run for president of Mexico.
He also has a history of refuting gay rumors.
While the 49-year-old is hoping to run as an independent candidate, he’s been indoctrinated in the MAGA-verse and, if elected, plans to extend the Trump nightmare to the good people of Mexico.
If tweeting false statements linking pedophilia with homosexuality wasn’t bad enough, Verástegui also has a fraught personal relationship with the LGBTQ+ community, of which he doesn’t identify with at all.
After reports claimed he was allegedly in a relationship with pop superstar Ricky Martin in the ‘90s, Verástegui denied they were romantically involved.
More recently, the Chasing Papi actor fought off reports in the Spanish-language media that he was in a secret romance with the ex-president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto (EPN).
EPN was president of Mexico from 2012 to 2018 and during his administration was married to his second wife, Angelica Rivera. The couple has since divorced.
After photos surfaced of Versátegui aboard EPN’s presidential plane, rumors swirled questioning the nature of their relationship.
According to reports, Versátegui was seen in the plane’s cockpit and also drinking a glass of wine with the president sitting in the background.
Eduardo Verastegui viajando en el avión presidencial. Al fondo Peña nieto. Para esto lo usaban, lo bueno que hay constancia. pic.twitter.com/n9nMQdYn05— Sir (@JosAnto34794260) July 27, 2020
During a 2020 appearance on the popular Mexican YouTube series Chisme No Like, Verástegui addressed the plane controversy by alleging he was asked by the former first lady to travel with the president to pay respects to Pope Francis during his visit to Mexico.
Versátegui said he was part of a group of journalists invited on board for the journey, although it’s unclear what media outlet, other than his own Instagram account, he is affiliated with.
While taking his word, show host Elisa Beristain went on to directly ask about the reports that he was the romantic partner of EPN.
Brushing off the gay rumor as speculative nonsense, Verástegui said he is too busy doing “important work” to refute every lie that is written about him.
“It is very easy to defame, to say anything. There comes a time when you don’t even want to clarify,” he told Chisme No Like. “Because If you try to clarify everything, I would have to be in interviews every day clarifying the lies, when there is a lot to do to make the world a better place.”
He added: “Let them say what they want to say. God knows who I am and the only one I have to be accountable to is God, not the public.”
Watch the Spanish-language interview below:
Now with his presidential desires specifically focused on being elected, Versátegui’s romantic life continues to be of a topic of interest as he has never married and is not currently dating anyone, at least not publicly.
Much like his idol Donald Trump, Versátegui enjoyed brief success in Hollywood prior to becoming a right-wing troll.
In addition to dancing shirtless in Jennifer Lopez’s “Ain’t That Funny” music video in 2001, Versátegui had a starring role in the 2003 Sofia Vergara rom-com Chasing Papi and made cameo appearances in Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Charmed, CSI: Miami, and Kevin Can Wait.
Most recently, he produced and starred in QAnon conspiracy theorists’ favorite summer blockbuster, Sound of Freedom.
But Versátegui has a long road to becoming the next authoritarian leader. He still has to scrounge up one million signatures by January so he can appear on the ballot for Mexico’s June 2024 election.
Regardless, it’s safe to say he won’t be bringing out the gay vote.
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