Eva Longoria’s boyfriend recently declared bankruptcy, owes $4 million: bad news?


Quick scenario: you’re single, employed, work hard to manage your money, and recently met a great guy you can relate to and have mindblowing sex with. A few weeks into the relationship, you discover he’s unemployed, massively in debt and recently declared bankruptcy. Do you: 1) Dump him for being dishonest and not being able to manage his money 2) Listen to his explanation for his debt, (i.e. failed business venture) and proceed cautiously or 3) Try to forget about it and see where things go with him. After all, he’s an awesome catch and guys like him don’t come around often.

Personally, I would do number 2) (ha! sorry) and not dump him right away, but I would look at the guy differently from then on and the relationship would probably end anyway. This sort-of happened to me, on a different level, with a guy I was dating post-college. I found out he had hidden the fact that he was deep in credit card debt (not just a little, like defaulting on several cards and being pursued by creditors) and had fibbed about some other things. After that, I just couldn’t see him the same. It seemed so dishonest. There’s a difference between making mistakes and owning up to them, and trying to hide a big secret from your potential partner.

All of this is preface to the fact that Eva Longoria, a massively wealthy woman, is now dating a guy she met on the failed dating show she hosted, “Ready for Love.” (On NBC, natch.) Eva’s new beau, Ernesto Arguello, recently declared bankruptcy, is $4 million in debt, and was living on handouts from his family before he met Eva, 38. He’s 34 years old.

According to court documents obtained exclusively by The Enquirer, Ernesto filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2012, listing $1,555 in assets and a whopping $4.1 million in total liabilities. At the time, he claimed he had just $5 cash on hand.

He listed more than $60,000 in outstanding student loan debt.

The bankruptcy petition revealed that he was on the hook for a whopping $4 million because he listed himself as a guarantor on a business debt from 2007.

Even worse, the court papers said handsome Ernesto was unemployed at the time of the filing, getting by on $2,000 a month he received from his family. With nearly $1,980 going toward monthly expenses, that left him about $20 pocket cash.

By comparison, Eva is worth an estimated $35 million.

Ernesto has been associated with at least 10 businesses in the last six years. His latest venture, Education Model Towns, LLC, was established in March 2013.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, July 22, 2013]

They don’t really vet the people they put on those dating shows, do they? I’m like Anthony Mackie. If someone is deep in debt and doesn’t seem to value their credit, that’s nearly a dealbreaker for me. It might not be for Eva Longoria though. She’s loaded beyond belief and can more than afford to bankroll her new man. Maybe that keeps him closer too, you know? It’s not like he’s going to run off with another woman when he’s got a sweet sugar mama like that. At least that’s the plan. Ask LeAnn Rimes how that’s working for her.

I’m not disparaging wealth differences between partners by any means. In my mind there’s a big difference between a relationship like Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson, where one of the partners was still financially responsible but just made less money. When one of the partners is seeking some kind of lifestyle upgrade after not being able to manage their own money, that’s a red flag.

Oh and Eva recently went to Paris with Ernesto, which is where she just happened to marry her ex husband, Tony Parker, on 7-7-07. She tweeted the photo below on July 7th, what would have been her anniversary. Tony may be engaged now, to his girlfriend of two years, journalist Axelle Francine.

She posted this photo to Instagram on 7-5-13 with the caption “@ernestoarguello and I had so much fun with the old gang last night in Austin!” Quite the whirlwind romance.

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42 Responses to “Eva Longoria’s boyfriend recently declared bankruptcy, owes $4 million: bad news?”

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  1. Bopit says:

    You can’t really fault someone for student loans, as long as they’re chipping away at them… but for the rest? Yikes. Run Eva. And change your PIN number.

    • anotherrandom says:

      Ugh student loans are going to be the death of me! I had no idea how hard they would be to pay off. I did not get any financial education from my parents.

      • Kaligula says:

        Ditto 🙁 it is so depressing, isn’t it? It’s like I inherited a disability from my parents in that regard. Some people are asexual? I’m afinancial

  2. Jackie Jormp Jomp (formerly Zelda) says:

    He’s pretty hot. She doesn’t need his money, she has her own. I say whatever.
    (though the July 7th pic was a tacky idea)

  3. JL says:

    4 Mill in Bankruptcy – RUN.

    He’s irresponsible and now you have to ask if he has no money is he only in it for yours?

  4. Jenn says:

    Well we had the original K-Fed, the ballet K-Fed ( Benjamin Millepied), why not a Latin K-Fed?

  5. lisa says:

    she might like him being dependent on her

  6. emmie_a says:

    1) Dump him for being dishonest and not being able to manage his money… How do you know he was dishonest?? The story didn’t say that he lied to Eva about his debts — nor does it say he lied to the reality show producer’s about his debt. Yes, he can’t manage his money but that doesn’t automatically equate to dishonesty.

  7. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    I think she is so pretty. That is all.

  8. Carolyn says:

    yep this guy has probably massively traded up from his previous girlfriend and is hoping Eva bankrolls him and gives him a fab lifestyle..get out now Eva!!

  9. Naye in VA says:

    IMHO I dont care if can afford to support you, your momma, your friends and your dog, you have to bring something to the table. More than $20 certainly. Because if you have nothing that means I have 50% of what I originally had. I’ve gone broke behind helping somebody else broke before. It doesnt matter if he makes way less than me, working at Wal-Mart or something, he has to be making something. His FAMILY is giving him money to support his lifestyle for goodness sake. He’s taking trips to Paris when he should be trying to figure out how to pay them back. I just hate mooches. And I have no respect for men who don’t try to get themselves together before trying to drag a woman into their mess. He was not “Ready For Love” lol

    • JL says:

      Naye in VA; you nailed it. Why in the world do so many women feel they have to or want to support a man fully capable of working and supporting himself?

      Living off your family past college (or HS if no college) is totally shameful.

    • Tulip says:

      @Naye. This +infinity. His FAMILY is supporting him not while he recovers from a crippling mental illness, an accident or even a nasty divorce, but while he plays around with beautiful women. His family is looking the other way so they can offload him onto someone who can afford him. And he’s too good to work at any job? Such a freaking mooch and not a man at all.

    • littlestar says:

      Yep, I agree! Why is he taking a trip to Paris instead of trying to find a job? Eva Longoria is not a nice person though, so I don’t feel too bad for her for finding a guy who seems questionable.

      • KM says:

        “Eva Longoria is not a nice person though…”
        Really? I’ve never heard that. I attended a funeral last year that she spoke at and she came across to me as well spoken and poised.
        I’ve always considered her to be a positive role model for Latinas in Hollywood as not only a successful actress, but as a producer, spokesperson and businesswoman. She is also very charitable.

    • Virgilia Coriolanus says:

      That’s what my mom keeps telling me and my older sister. You can be broke all by yourself…you don’t need to do it with someone else too.

  10. Talie says:

    DUMP! $4 million is debt shows someone who lived very irresponsibly.

  11. Kiddo says:

    As long as we don’t have to hear about a wedding 24/7 with ET or whatever entertainment program in wall to wall coverage, I’m good. I could no longer stand her after that. The amount of attention she was seeking was absurd and shame-worthy.

    • CG says:

      She was on MasterChef the other night and when she came on my roommate looked at me and said, “We don’t like her, right? I don’t remember why.” I answered because she was really famewhore-ish and desperate and kind of try-hard (although she wasn’t *too* annoying in the MasterChef appearance).

      • Kiddo says:

        Yeah, she was so awful, I can’t get that taste out of my mouth. It was so Kardashian.

      • littlestar says:

        She is a definite fame-wh*re. A couple of my close friends saw her in Vegas a few years ago and they said she had a huge entourage with her, and was looking around with a smug look on her face that said “look at MEEEEE”!

  12. erin says:

    is defaulting on several credit cards really some sort of scarlet letter red flag of shame? i feel like a lot of people have been in this situation and probably not felt like it was something they needed to disclose to someone they were dating…not really your business.

    • Samtha says:

      Exactly. It’s something to discuss if you’re talking marriage, but other than that, are you really obligated to tell someone you’re dating your credit history?

      • Naye in VA says:

        I think when you are dating , and you really like someone, you should be full disclosure about something like that. My mom used to say “be careful who you fall in love with” and I didnt get it for a long time until I realized that sometimes relationships get to a point of no return, and you put up or deal with thing that may be detrimental to you because you love that person, and it’s hard to turn back. Let her make that decision before she gets too involved.

  13. just me says:

    dammit! he’s so freaking hot! this sucks for her. I would proceed cautiously too but what a bummer.

  14. Samtha says:

    Eh, plenty of people have gotten in financial trouble for various reasons and managed to turn things around.

    I don’t see where the dishonesty is, either. Is there some story out there about him lying to Eva about his finances?

  15. HK9 says:

    As long as she doesn’t, sign anything, bankroll anything/anyone, and realize that if you give him $$ know that it’s a gift and she’ll NEVER see it again she’ll be ok. If she want’s to marry the sexy man who tends to go bankrupt, then she’s got to get full disclosure and a fleet of lawyers.

  16. truthful says:

    Unfortunately, I watched most of that STAGED dating show…ummm, what happened to the lady he was supposedly in love/like with???

    Eva is another one that can’t be alone, she has self esteem issues.

    As soon as Tony came out and announced he is engaged, then she admits to “seeing” Ernesto”

    on the show they portrayed him as VERY Wealthy and I watched it this year..

    LIES-dump, but she won’t, cause she is hard-up, pathetic.

    She started the show to find a man, LOL!!

    men are WINNING, smdh.

    • Mika says:

      Eva and her show knew exactly how much money this guy had in his pocket. They would have run his credit and done background checks on him. Eva is a savvy business woman and she ain’t gonna let no man next to her money unless she wants him to have it – trust me on that! She’s no fool!

  17. lenje says:

    I like Eva. She’s well-spoken, educated, she works for a cause. These qualities alone, the guy could actually fall really hard for her. But for some inexplicable reason I don’t like it.

  18. Tig says:

    A bit of Anne Hathaway situation here, isn’t it? No crimes here, but this guy left an awful lot of creditors( or maybe one bank!) holding the bag. Sure they were delighted to see pics of him living it up in Paris.

    Eva is a big girl, with lots of cash and access to financial advisors. She now knows the score. She may like this dynamic, who knows?

  19. Nicolette says:

    Maybe she doesn’t care if he’s got $20 in his pocket, and is just along for the ride of great sex. Who knows?

  20. yolo112 says:

    I don’t like Eva and never have. I couldn’t figure it out until just now; I despise women that can’t be alone for 1 week of their life and have the WORST luck with men due to their insecurities. (she and JLo are one in the same).

    What I keep thinking is, they were trying to push him into marrying someone on that lame ass dating show!? Did he plan on being honest with that potential wifey or was he gonna lie to her until she was in deep?? Shady. He’s one hot as hell, shady ass guy.

    I spy another Jloish/Casper relationship brewing up…I bet she’s trying to figure out where she can put him on the payroll as we speak.

  21. junegorilla says:

    She can really pick ’em.

    Education Model Towns, LLC, = Escort Service

  22. qtpi says:

    It would be easy to see how he would be into more then just her money though. Great personality, fun, great bod – the Eddie/LeAnn comparison is just not the same. 😉

  23. Viv says:

    Well, he may suck when it comes to handling a business but he sure looks like hotness to me. I say let her have fun and let’s wait and see if he is really a leech or just bad at choosing careers. Some of the richest dudes turned their lives around after a bankruptcy and no one talks about that 10, 20 years later. I hope he is not a jackass, she hasn’t annoyed me to the point that she is in LeAnn territory- so more power to her. Get the toy boys, Eva.

  24. DeepFriedLies says:

    He can bring his broke ass into my bed any day. 😉