'Mexican Dynasties': The Allendes on Family Secrets and Their Lasting Legacy (Exclusive)

Fernando and Mari Allende spill all to their son, Adan.

It's family over everything for the Allende family. 

Fernando Allende, his wife, Mari, and their sons, Elan and Adan, have captured viewers' hearts -- and kept them laughing -- on Bravo's hit new series, Mexican Dynasties. They're known as the music family on the series, but ET got to know them at the core. 

"Oh my goodness, I didn't want a relationship, I didn't want a husband, I didn't want kids," Mari confessed to Adan, who played interviewer. But she just couldn't resist Fernando, who was already a big star for his work as an actor and musician when she met him in Puerto Rico in the '80s. 

"I wanted a relationship, I wanted a wife," he insisted, as Mari joked he was "hunting." "I fell in love with your mom the moment I saw [how] she would treat the fans, the people that love me." 

"All the other relationships that I had before, they were kind of jealous when [fans] would come to me and take photographs and [get] autographs and the whole thing," Fernando continued. "Mari was the one that would have three different markers in silver, gold and black to see in what color do you want [the autograph]? So she treated my people very, very well... and I fell in love with her, her kindness." 

"You're nobody without your fans," Mari reasoned. 

Allende Family

The pair later married and spent over a decade in Aspen, Colorado, raising two children, Elan and Adan. While Fernando and Mari couldn't love their kids more -- their intensely close relationship is one of the focuses of Mexican Dynasties -- they weren't on the same page about becoming parents. 

"I only wanted dogs," Mari joked as Fernando held their dog, Nacho, close during the interview. 

"One hundred percent," Fernando confirmed. "I mean, I had to force her to have you and your brother. It didn't take me that long, but, I mean..." 

"You didn't force me to rehearse for it," Mari teased. 

"Oh, we rehearsed for a while," Fernando said with a smile. 

Allende Family

Adan is now their pride and joy, and one of the highlights of Fernando's legacy. 

"I'm gonna [reach the] 50-year [mark] in this industry... When I have my two kids and my family part of the tradition of who we are, of course, it is a legacy. Of course, I'm very proud of it, but remember, we as parents, we never, never pushed Adan and Elan, we never pushed them to be part of the industry," he said of his children, who have both pursued music careers. 

"I love [Adan] because you care for us so much and you're not ashamed or scared to show it. You kiss us, you hug us, you talk to us, you listen to us," Fernando shared. 

"And you respect your parents as well as you respect others," Mari added. 

Allende Family

Keeping her family's bond tight has been incredibly important to Mari, who shared that one of the things she loves most about living in Mexico is the "concept and respect we have for the family." 

"When we went back in 2011, I had the blessing of really connecting with the Allende family, [who] took me under their wing. Mama Allende, who was a matriarch, unfortunately, passed away... she showed me how the Allende family raise their children." 

As a family unit, Fernando, Mari, Elan and Adan decided to sign onto Mexican Dynasties.

"We felt that our community, our society, we were not viewed in a complete spectrum of who we really are," Fernando explained. "We felt, as a family, it was needed to expand the image of who we are and I believe that we're doing it. People are really connecting with us." 

"People are really understanding what the country of Mexico is all about. We have culture, we have cuisine, we have music, theater," Mari chimed in. 

"We are not daring to say that all of Mexico lives like we do, but we are very happy to share who we are, how we live," Fernando concluded. "The doors of our home are open for you, and our heart and our mind is open to you."

Mexican Dynasties airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Watch the video above for the Allende family's rendition of "Cielito Lindo," and see more on the series in the video below. 

Get more Latinx news on ET MÁS, ETonline's new section featuring the latest celeb, film, TV, music and style news.

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