Mario Lopez Talks Code-Switching For Work: “Trying To Cash These Checks!”
Mario Lopez has responded to shocked fans who recently heard his “hood” voice for the first time, admitting that he code-switches for work.
In September, a video of Mario narrating himself eating mariscos with salsa guacamaya went viral. His voice sounds noticeably different in the clip as he winds down with a Modelo and unapologetically lets his true Mexican-American colors fly.
“You know me & the homie had to give you the lowdown on @Mariscos_el_bigoton & taste test the goods…,” he says in the clip. “This is fire!” Lopez can be heard saying after he takes a bite of a shrimp taco. He even referred to his friend in the video as “foo.”
The code-switch was positively received by comments on TikTok and X/Twitter, with many fans loving his “authentic” self. Other comments were genuinely shocked at the revelation.
“I’ve NEVER imagined Mario Lopez spoke any other way besides his tv news anchor voice,” one person commented.
“He’s “Mario Lopez” on TV and “Ese Mario” on the streets, and I’m here for it ?,” another person quipped.
“Mario Lopez is the prime example of using the Mickey Mouse voice during work hours,” someone else joked.
Mario caught wind of the reaction and uploaded a video addressing the confusion. He explained that it was “racking his brain” trying to understand why people were shocked at his voice. He then realized that many of his fans didn’t know he was Mexican—which also confused him.
“Alright, so all kinds of people hit me up right now because evidently I’m trending on Twitter,” he began. “People don’t think I’m Mexican. Is that a trip … with a name like Mario Lopez? You know what people have been thinking that I am everything from Hawaiian and Italian. But I’m not; that’s the weirdest thing.”
The Saved by the Bell actor then explained his origins. He detailed that he was born in Chula Vista, California, and is a first-generation American. Lopez expressed that his parents were born in Mexico and moved to the States before he was born.
Mario then hypothesized that maybe the food videos he had been doing on TikTok confused people. He then asserted that he couldn’t speak the same way on Access Hollywood—especially when he’s “trying to cash these checks.”
“I have been doing these food videos on social with my homies and it’s a lot of Mexican food; I love to eat,” he added. “I’m talking saying ‘homies,’ using a lot of slang and just kind of being yourself. I can’t be like that on Access Hollywood or my radio show. Trying to cash these checks! I can’t be sounding all hood. I gotta keep it a little more polished and buttoned up, but my whole circle is Mexicano.”
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