Mark Vito biography: from fujimorismo to the gym

Before, Mark Vito Villanella was that American man who appeared in the photos next to Keiko Fujimori, always in the background, always in a suit. Nobody searched for him on Google. Nobody followed him on social media. Now he has tens of thousands of followers on TikTok, he told a court that he earns S/ 14,000 a month as an influencer, and he is in the cast of La Granja VIP Perú. The same person. A completely different life.

Who is Mark Vito?

Mark Vito Villanella is an American businessman, fitness influencer and television personality of Italian descent, based in Peru since 2003. He was born on August 10, 1976 in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. He became known in Peru for being the husband of the politician Keiko Fujimori for 18 years. Since his divorce in 2022, he has built a career of his own as a content creator, reality show contestant and English teacher.

Mark Vito's personal details

From New Jersey to Miraflores: the invisible years

Mark Vito studied Business Administration at Columbia University, in New York. There, in the corridors of the campus, he met Keiko Fujimori when she arrived to study. They married on July 13, 2004 at the Virgen de Fátima church in Miraflores, with a party at the Fundo Mamacona that brought together half of fujimorismo.

After the wedding, the two returned to New York. While Keiko did her MBA at Columbia, Mark worked at IBM, at the New York headquarters, between 2005 and 2011. When the couple decided to settle definitively in Peru, he followed the same logic: he set up businesses. He co-founded MNG Transportes with Nikola Seremet, although he left in 2013. In 2014 he founded MVV Bienes y Raíces, his real estate company, and obtained Peruvian citizenship. In that period, few people knew who he was beyond “Keiko's husband”.

That defines him quite well. For almost two decades, Mark Vito had the profile of someone who preferred not to have a profile. He appeared in photos when it was unavoidable. He gave no interviews. He existed, but he did not take part.

READ ALSO: Keiko Fujimori BIOGRAPHY: the Peruvian politician

The hunger strike, the trial and the end of the marriage

There is one moment many people remember about Mark Vito before the TikTok: the hunger strike. It was in 2019, when Keiko Fujimori went into pre-trial detention over the Cócteles case. Her husband planted himself outside the women's prison in Chorrillos and refused to eat. It was a gesture that won him sympathy even among those who did not share fujimorismo's views. Love in protest format.

Three years later, in June 2022, Keiko announced the divorce. Mark published a message on Facebook confirming the separation, in which he stressed that for him, Keiko “represents perseverance and courage”. Cordial, measured, without scandal. In 2025, Keiko gave more details in an interview: she attributed the wear and tear to the prolonged court case and mentioned that “a line was crossed with no way back”. When she was asked whether she followed her ex-husband's TikTok, she answered with a laugh: “No, I prefer not to watch it”.

The legal case is still open. The Public Prosecutor's Office accuses him of criminal organization and money laundering within the framework of the Cócteles case, with a request for 22 years in prison. His company MVV Bienes y Raíces is also under scrutiny. In January 2026, a judge determined that he will continue to be investigated over the purchase of properties in 2015. Mark Vito and his defence deny any connection with money laundering.

Mark Vito's physical change: before and after

This is what people search for the most. And it makes sense, because the change was real and it was fast.

After the divorce, Mark Vito appeared on TikTok with a physique nobody expected. The man in a suit who accompanied Keiko at rallies had disappeared. In his place, a guy of almost 50 with less body fat than many people in their twenties. According to anti-ageing specialist Jean Paul Osores, who was consulted by several media outlets, Mark is said to have reduced his body fat percentage by between 6 and 8 points and lost around 5 kilos. That does not happen by chance.

How did he do it? He explained it himself on TikTok, in detail and unfiltered. His routine for back and biceps includes: hammer with pronated grip, pronated-grip pulldown, hammer with supinated grip, lumbar hyperextension, incline biceps curl, dumbbell hammer curl and reverse biceps curl with pronated grip. Four sets of each exercise, weight progression per set (15, 12, 10 and 8 repetitions). A 10-minute warm-up on the treadmill at 7 km/h. Five to eight minutes of stretching at the end. And, something he underlined several times: no anabolic steroids. “Do not use anabolic steroids to get the body you want”, he said directly to his followers.

The bathtub video was the one that made him go viral. He appeared with his torso bare, proud of his results, and social media exploded. It went on to pass 105 thousand plays in a few days. “Brother, your effort is my pride”, some wrote. Others just wanted to know which gym he trained at.

Career and notable programmes

• IBM New York (2005–2011) — Corporate work before settling in Peru.
• MVV Bienes y Raíces (founded 2014) — Peruvian real estate company, currently under judicial investigation.
• TikTok @markvitov (2023–present) — Fitness and lifestyle influencer. Declared income: S/ 14,000 a month.
• “La pituca en inglés” (2023) — Appearance in the music video of Cint G, daughter of Tongo, a chicha pop version of the original track.
• Esto es Guerra (2023) — Special guest in the “Sazón en Guerra” segment alongside Susy Díaz.
• Tierra negra (2025) — Film directed by Luis Tarazona, alongside Zully Pinchi.
• La Granja VIP Perú (2026) — Panamericana TV. Part of the main cast.
• English teacher (2025–present) — He works at Only One Coin, his partner Leslie Echevarría's company.

Personal life: girlfriends, pranks and almost a wedding

After the divorce, Mark Vito's love life became a recurring subject of Peruvian showbiz. In July 2024, he arrived at the oral trial of the Cócteles case accompanied by Sofía Chirinos, a 21-year-old influencer with whom he kissed at the doors of the court, in front of all the cameras. The age difference was more than 26 years. Sofía's mother went on television to say that she did not approve of the relationship. The couple lasted several months.

By April 2025, Mark began a relationship with Leslie Echevarría, a businesswoman and creator of educational content known for her project “Inglés por un sol”. She convinced him to become an English teacher —something comical, given that he is a native speaker— and the two began documenting everything on social media. They travelled to the United States so that she could meet Mark's parents. In November 2025 there was a crisis when Susy Díaz said publicly that she had seen Mark naked. The story turned out to be a couple's prank. They made up and, according to ATV reports from that same month, they resumed the preparations for their wedding.

Mark Vito trivia

• Dual nationality: He is an American citizen by birth and obtained Peruvian citizenship after marrying Keiko and settling in Lima. Both are valid.
• The most high-profile court of his life: When he stated his profession before the Superior Court of Justice in July 2024, he said: “I work as an influencer and advertiser on social media, at events and sometimes on television programmes”. It was the first time an influencer had said that in a criminal trial in Peru, and the memes arrived instantly.
• Susy Díaz and the shower: One of the most remembered anecdotes of his time in Peruvian showbiz involves Susy Díaz, who recounted having seen him without clothes in the shower. The story generated a brief scandal that turned out to be a prank coordinated by the couple themselves.
• Tongo's son-in-law, almost: He appeared in the music video of Cint G, daughter of the much-remembered chicha singer Tongo, in the song “La pituca en inglés”. It is exactly as strange as it sounds, and it worked.
• Keiko's line: When Keiko Fujimori was asked in 2025 whether she followed her ex-husband's TikTok, she answered “No, I prefer not to watch it”, and laughed. It is the most human answer she has been seen to give in years.
• He has lived in Peru for more than 20 years: He arrived in Lima in 2003. Although he was born and educated in the United States, he has spent more time living in Peru than in his country of origin.

Mark Vito in 2026

2026 finds him filming on a farm. La Granja VIP Perú, the Panamericana reality show, included him in its main cast —something that barely four years ago would have seemed like a joke. He is also still with Leslie Echevarría, they plan to marry, and the court case over Cócteles moves slowly through the courts.

What is interesting about Mark Vito is not the physical transformation, although that was the way in. It is that he took a completely borrowed identity —that of Keiko's husband— and built one of his own from scratch, at 46, in a language and a culture that were not his by birth. At Famosix we consider that quite a bit harder than losing 5 kilos.

Conclusion

Few figures of recent Peruvian showbiz have a story as odd as Mark Vito's. He spent two decades being an extra in Keiko Fujimori's film and, on leaving, he decided to star in his own. With weights, with TikTok, with younger girlfriends and with a criminal case in the background. If you want to keep reading about the figures who move Peru, you have many more on Famosix.com.

Sources consulted

• Wikipedia: Mark Vito
• RPP: Mark Vito, Keiko Fujimori's ex-husband, says he earns S/ 14 thousand as an influencer at the ‘Cócteles’ case trial
• La República: Mark Vito is eliminated from ‘La Granja VIP Perú’ after being beaten in votes by Renato Rossini Jr.
• Infobae: ‘Esto es Guerra’ producer approved Mark Vito as a reality show contestant
• Infobae: Mark Vito starts a new chapter as an English teacher
• La República: Mark Vito and Zully Pinchi make their big-screen debut with the Ancash film ‘Tierra Negra’