Cristian De la Fuente was born in Santiago, Chile, the only child of chemist Hugo de la Fuente (died 1996) and Adriana Sabarots, a homemaker of French descent. He served in the Chilean Air Force reserve prior to attending the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where he pursued a degree in civil engineering. While still a sophomore, de la Fuente was discovered by a talent scout and encouraged to enter the country's "Super Teen" contest, which he won. This was soon followed by roles in several soap operas, including “Eclipse de luna” (Canal 13, 1997), as well as a stint as host of Chile's top-rated variety series, “Venga conmigo” (Canal 13, 1995-2002). Cristian de la Fuente was a popular television actor in South America before breaking into the U.S. markets with appearances in several independent films. He eventually worked his way up to supporting roles in Hollywood features like “Basic” (2003) and popular television shows like “CSI: Miami” (CBS, 2002- ) and “Soñar no cuesta nada” (Venevision, 2005). In 2008, he was tapped to participate in the sixth season of the American edition of “Dancing with the Stars”, raising his international profile.