Mario Lopez and wife Courtney© GettyImages

Mario Lopez and Courtney reveal homeschooling challenge and join the TikTok craze

The celebrity couple spoke to HOLA! USA about their time in quarantine


APRIL 30, 2020 6:13 PM EDT

While staying home is becoming the new normal, celebrities are making the best of the quarantine by spending time with their families.  Mario Lopez , for instance, has taken on dance videos with his wife, Courtney Lopez, and their three children, Gia, nine, Dominic, six, and nine-month-old Santino. Speaking to HOLA! USA, the Access Hollywood co-host and his wife chatted with us via Zoom crediting their daughter for joining the TikTok game. “Yeah, she’s at that age,” the 46-year-old star says. “And we got the whole family in on the act, even the baby. ”

© GettyImages

Mario and Courtney are getting ready for a salsa class on Cinco de Mayo

The Saved by the Bell alum revealed he and his daughter are the ones behind picking out the music. “We try to keep it funky and fun...we’ve got another one coming hopefully soon,” he shares, adding, “We’ve been slippin’.”

It seems the Lopez family will be dancing their way through Cinco de Mayo as the couple has partnered up with the Tostitos company for a charitable cause benefiting the Latino community amid the coronavirus pandemic. Tostitos’ Salsa For Cinco is a free online salsa dancing class taught by Mario and Courtney to raise awareness and funds for under-served Hispanic communities.

“I love that it‘s going to be raising funds specifically for the Latino community, which has been really hit hard by the pandemic, and Tostitos is going to start it off by kicking $100,000 to the program,” explains the actor-producer, who recently announced an hour-long reality show looking for the next Menudo. “Every person who joins the live stream, they [Tostitos] will donate another $5. “So we can really raise a lot of money for a great cause and have a little fun, be festive and celebrate and party on Cinco de Mayo. The Expanding Universe of Ashely Garcia producer pointed this is the perfect time to “learn a little salsa dancing in the privacy of your own home.”

© @mariolopez

Courtney and daughter Gia dancing

If you thought the family-of-five had a tight bond, their time together has made it even stronger. But like many parents, Mario and Courtney find that homeschool has been the most challenging part of quarantine. “It took a little bit of time to figure out a system,” admits Courtney, 37. “But the best that I can do is to have a time frame in the morning to do the work. I do what I can within that time frame, and then we go about our day. I‘m doing the best I can,” she declares. Mario, who returns to his iconic character of A.C. Slater in the Saved by the Bell reboot that will be on the NBC streaming service Peacock might be using this time to freshen up his teaching skills as his new role sees him as a gym teacher at Bayside High.

Like many, the television host and the professional dancer are counting down until they’re able to host their friends and family again. Although he’s been keeping in touch with close friends, including  Eva Longoriaby FaceTiming, when asked about the first thing they’ll want to do once quarantine is over, Mario says, “Have a big party because we like to entertain and have a bunch of people over, hug everyone.”

Courtney supported his comment adding their youngest child will soon be reaching a new milestone. “Our son’s first birthday is just three months away, so we usually like to celebrate and have our friends over.”