Live With Kelly and Mark! After years of filling in as a guest cohost, Kelly Ripa’s husband, Mark Consuelos, is officially joining the Live family.
During the Thursday, February 16, episode of Live With Kelly and Ryan, Ryan Seacrest announced his exit after nearly six years on the ABC show. Ripa, 52, subsequently revealed Consuelos, 51, will be her permanent new cohost.
The Live Wire author has been on the morning show since 2001, taking over with Regis Philbin following Kathie Lee Gifford’s exit. The American Idol host, 48, joined her in 2017 after a lengthy search for a replacement.
Ripa and Consuelos previously worked together on All My Children in the ‘90s. After falling in love on the set, the twosome eloped in 1996 and went on to welcome three children: Michael, 25, Lola, 21, and Joaquin, 19.
Late last year, the Hope & Faith alum teased that Consuelos was in the running for the gig years ago.
“It’s so much a deeper discussion, and it has so little, actually, to do with me,” she said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in September 2022 before naming Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper. “I love my ACs, of course, but they have jobs. … My MC I love, but he had a job too. At the time he was working in California and then in Vancouver.”
She added: “I would have had a woman in a heartbeat. …. I don’t make that decision. But I have always found the idea of two women hosting a show very appealing.”
Consuelos filled in for Seacrest as recently as last month. During the January 30 episode of Live, the Riverdale star joked about warning their daughter — who recently moved back in with her parents — about walking in on them having sex.
“She’s so excited to be living with us again because it’s her last semester in college. She’s not going to go back to her apartment, she’s staying with us. And you know what she does now? The door’s closed in our bedroom, no knock, she just walks in and says, ‘Hey girls!’” Consuelos explained. “I said, ‘Lola, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, I’m very excited that you are home. We missed you. You are the heart of this family. You’re so funny and you’re just fantastic — but you gotta knock.’”
The twosome had previously told stories on air about Lola catching them in the act.
“Because at this point, anything you walk in on is your problem,” Ripa noted.
“Don’t you think she’s been traumatized enough by walking in before?” Consuelos joked. “Well, be warned Lola Consuelos. Cause this week’s freaky week, isn’t it? Yeah, this is January 30. We’re going to get freaky this week!”
The couple have always been open about their romance.
“I’m crazy about her,” the actor gushed to Us Weekly in 2019. “She’s an extremely patient and a tolerant woman, and I think that’s the true secret to our marriage.”
He added at the time that he woke up with Ripa before she left to film Live.
“Because she has to go to work early, I get up with her, I make her a cup of coffee and we talk,” Consuelos said. “I like to hear from her, she likes to hear from me.”
