Mario Lopez Shares How His Kids Influence "Everything" He Does — INTERVIEW

In just a matter of weeks, Mario Lopez and his wife Courtney will welcome one more adorable member to their brood. And with just one quick glance at the 45-year-old actor's Instagram, you can tell just how amped he is to become a dad of three. In fact, it's really no surprise Mario Lopez feels his kids "influence" everything he does, as he shared with Romper in a recent interview, and that includes his various work projects.

The TV personality is really a jack of all trades. He's a fashion designer — his the Mario Lopez Collection is full of class and flavor — a producer, and, of course, a proud father to his children, 8-year-old daughter Gia and 5-year-old son Dominic. And while Lopez is obviously a very busy guy, he admits his kiddos remain the driving force behind his work.

"My kids influence everything I do," he tells Romper.

Take the Mario Lopez collection, a men's accessory and shoe line, which he launched in Fall 2018 and says that includes matching pieces for little boys as well. The line, available on Amazon, is stylish, represents the actor "with a little Latin flavor to it," and is also rooted in his relationship with his son, who Lopez says is basically a mini-Mario.

"The little boy's line is great," Lopez shares with Romper. "Right now, [Dominic] loves to dress up like me and I'll take it as long as I can get it. He loves to dress up like Daddy, and it's adorable, and I'm excited about it. I hope other kids and their dads will take note."

But Lopez's kids haven't only influenced his fashion line; they've also had a major influence on his upcoming family-friendly series for Netflix, The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia, which he co-created and serves as an executive producer on. According to Entertainment Weekly, the multi-camera, 16-episode comedy series tells the story of a 14-year-old robotics engineer and rocket scientist named Ashley Garcia, "who moves in with her fun-loving uncle, Victor, when she gets the opportunity to work for NASA."

Lopez tells Romper he looked to his own family when creating the series, and kept them in mind while developing the show. "I'm thrilled to be partnering with Netflix telling a universal story, with a little bit of a Latin flavor to it," he tells Romper. "I want to make shows that I know my kids want to watch and are representing people and keeping it diverse. I'm thrilled, it's funny, and I can't wait for everyone to watch."

Beyond his many exciting projects, Lopez is also, of course, looking forward to the arrival of his third child. At the moment, Courtney is around 32 weeks pregnant with their third child (Baby #3 will be here so soon!), and, sorry guys, Lopez tells Romper that he and his wife are keeping their baby's sex a surprise, like they did with all of their kids.

"I can't wait," he says. "The best thing is my other two kids and their reaction, it's going to be great... They're excited for becoming older siblings and dying to find out what we're having... They've been campaigning for a boy or a girl."

While a new addition certainly brings change to routine and life in general, it seems that Lopez is more than prepared. In fact, as tells Romper, he already knows his upcoming Father's Day plans will be a little different this year. "We'll probably go to the Dodger's game since we're a big Dodgers family," he says. "My wife usually sings the National Anthem, but since she's so pregnant, she's not going to sing the anthem this year."

Between his Netflix series, fashion line, and more, it's hard to deny that Mario Lopez's role as proud papa really does influence everything he does. And, of course, it will be exciting to see how exactly Baby #3 spices things up soon enough.