Rodrigo González biography: the Peluchín of Peruvian TV

There is one nickname that works better than any proper name in Peru: Peluchín. He was given it in 1997, when Rodrigo González joined Magaly TeVe as an intern, and almost three decades later it is still the label everyone searches for him by. Today he hosts Amor y Fuego, one of the noisiest showbiz slots on Peruvian television, and he has been doing it for more than five years. Here you will find his full story: where he came from, how he went from intern to media rival of his own mentor, why he changed channels three times and what he is doing in 2026.

Who is Rodrigo González?

Rodrigo González, known as “Peluchín”, is a Peruvian television host born in Lima. He is known for presenting Amor y Fuego on Willax Televisión since 2020 and for his sharp style when commenting on local showbiz. He started in 1997 as an intern at Magaly TeVe.

Rodrigo González's personal details

Rodrigo González's childhood and early years

Rodrigo González Lupis was born in Lima. He studied Communication Sciences at the Instituto Peruano de Publicidad, a decision that fitted what he would end up doing, although the work came before the degree: when he first set foot on a television set he was still in training.

The starting point for everything was 1997. He joined, as an intern, the show Magaly TeVe, the slot run by Magaly Medina which at the time set the agenda of Peruvian showbiz. That newsroom worked as a school: there you learned to read the rhythm of a live show, to build a showbiz story and to hold an opinion in front of camera.

It was on that set that the nickname was pinned on him. “Peluchín” was born as an in-house joke and ended up becoming his professional brand. Almost thirty years later, much of the Peruvian public knows the nickname but would not be able to say his full surname.

That start explains a lot about his style. González was not trained in a news studio or in a traditional journalism school, but on the show that defined the tone of Peruvian showbiz in the nineties: fast, blunt and without too many concessions to the interviewee.

Rodrigo González's professional career

His path on screen has been that of a host who kept changing homes until he found a format of his own.

After his training years, in 2009 he appeared on two shows: Hola a todos on ATV and Lima Limón on América Televisión. But his first big cycle came in 2010 with Amor, Amor, Amor on Latina Televisión, which he hosted for seven years, until 2017. That show established him as one of the voices of local showbiz.

In 2018 he took on ¡Válgame Dios!, also on Latina, where he stayed until 2019. And in 2020 he made the leap to Willax Televisión with Amor y Fuego, the format he hosts alongside Gigi Mitre and with which he has reached his longest-running period.

The pattern of those moves says something about how Peruvian television works: showbiz hosts move between channels taking their audience with them, and the show ends up being less important than the signature presenting it. González has changed channels three times without his audience ever losing track of him.

Main milestones of his career:

• 1997: joins Magaly TeVe as an intern and receives the nickname “Peluchín”
• 2009: hosts Hola a todos (ATV) and Lima Limón (América Televisión)
• 2010-2017: hosts Amor, Amor, Amor on Latina Televisión
• 2018-2019: hosts ¡Válgame Dios! on Latina Televisión
• 2020-present: hosts Amor y Fuego on Willax Televisión

Rodrigo González's standout shows

Rodrigo González's personal life

González has lived his romantic life with public normality, without turning it into a secret or into a permanent spectacle. The “romance” he starred in with his co-host Sofía Franco on Amor, Amor, Amor was, as González himself revealed years later, a script agreed with the channel to keep the public's attention, and not a real relationship. He was in a relationship with Sean Rico for about five years, until 2019, a bond whose details became known through his own social media.

Since 2021 he has been in a relationship with Salvatore, with whom he has publicly shared part of his day-to-day life. His visibility as an openly gay figure on Peruvian free-to-air television has been, in itself, a relevant fact in an industry where that kind of normalization arrived late.

His professional profile is defined by a direct, sarcastic style when commenting on showbiz, a register that has earned him both a loyal audience and recurring clashes with the figures he comments on. His relationship with Magaly Medina, the host on whose show he started, has gone through periods of closeness and distance over the years, and is one of the threads the Peruvian press has followed with most interest. That the 1997 intern ended up competing for the same audience as his former boss is one of those symmetries television produces every so often, and it explains why any clash between the two becomes a headline.

Rodrigo González trivia

• He started as an intern: he joined television as an intern before finishing his communication training.
• His nickname was born on Magaly Medina's set: “Peluchín” came out of the newsroom of Magaly TeVe in 1997.
• He spent seven years on the same show: Amor, Amor, Amor was with him from 2010 to 2017, something uncommon on Peruvian television.
• He has passed through four different channels: ATV, América Televisión, Latina and Willax.
• His nickname is better known than his surname: much of the public searches for him as “Peluchín” and not as Rodrigo González.
• He trained at the Instituto Peruano de Publicidad: he studied Communication Sciences.
• He worked with the woman who would later be his media counterpart: he started on Magaly Medina's show, with whom he has since had public fallings-out.

Rodrigo González in 2026

In 2026, González continues to front Amor y Fuego on Willax Televisión, the show he has hosted since 2020 and which has become his longest and most stable period. The format keeps the formula that made him known: live commentary on showbiz news, interviews and analysis of the week's paparazzi scoops. Six years on the same slot is a high figure for a genre where shows tend to last one or two seasons.

His digital presence goes along with his television one. González uses his social media as an extension of the show, posting reactions and comments that often anticipate or expand on what is later broadcast on screen. That double route —free-to-air television in the morning and social media throughout the day— is now the standard model for showbiz programmes, and he was one of the first to adopt it in Peru.

At Famosix his career strikes us as interesting for one specific reason: he is one of the few Peruvian communicators who has managed to sustain a showbiz slot of his own for more than fifteen consecutive years, changing channels three times without losing his audience along the way. His permanent duel with Magaly Medina, the host who trained him, sums up fairly well how showbiz television works in Peru.

Conclusion

Rodrigo González went from intern to host with a format of his own, and he did it without changing the register that defined him from the start: direct opinion and little filter. At Famosix we follow his career and that of the other figures of Peruvian television in our ranking of Peruvian celebrities.

Sources consulted

• Wikipedia: Rodrigo González (presenter)
• La República: Rodrigo González Instagram: he ended his relationship with Sean Rico, his partner of 5 years
• La República: Rodrigo González reveals that he hid his sexual orientation at Latina's request: “Sofía Franco knew my boyfriend”
• Infobae: Rodrigo González, who is his boyfriend Salvatore and where did he fall in love with him?
• El Popular: profile of Rodrigo González
• Famous Birthdays: profile of Rodrigo González