Back to the start. Mark Consuelos will join wife Kelly Ripa as her new Live cohost, nearly three decades after they first started working together.
“We figured that since we started our careers together, we might as well finish them together,” the Riverdale star, 51, and Ripa, 52, exclusively joked to Us Weekly. “We figured the idea ‘what could possibly go wrong?’ is something we’d definitely like to explore. Now, we have the chance.”
The duo met in 1995 on the set of the ABC soap opera All My Children, and they married the following year. Ripa, 52, and Consuelos share three kids, Michael, 25, daughter Lola, 21, and Joaquin, 19.
“So many wonderful moments have happened while with ABC, so it only makes sense for us to come full circle and work together once again for the show that has given us so much joy and so many years of memories,” Ripa exclusively told Us.
Consuelos, who has guest hosted many times over the years, will step in after Ryan Seacrest exits. The American Idol host announced on Thursday, February 16, that the current season would be his last.
“Kelly and I have some news here. This is something that she and I have been talking about for a long time and it was a tough, tough decision. Last year, we spoke and I made the decision to make this my last season as cohost with Kelly here on Live With Kelly and Ryan, which is bittersweet,” the 48-year-old TV personality told the audience.
While Ripa has been a mainstay on Live since 2001, initially cohosting with the late Regis Philbin, Seacrest joined the show in 2017.
The pair confirmed at the time that Ripa would be joined by her husband. “We are so aware of the importance of continuity and consistency and, like, the familial vibe that we all have here,” the New Jersey native explained. “It only makes sense to not just our viewing audience at home, but our audience here within our staff, our support system, our extended family, to bring in somebody that we know and love and who’s really always been here. The only person I can think of that is capable of, you know, holding your torch the way you have held it. And that would be, my husband, Mark Consuelos, in what Ryan and I are calling the nation’s weirdest social experiment.”
In an Instagram post that day, Seacrest said he’d “transition out of Live“ in the spring and sent well wishes to Consuelos: “And congratulations to my brother Mark, feel free to remodel my dressing room!”
The happiness was mutual. “Congrats on your next chapter @ryanseacrest. I love you like a brother,” the Spain native wrote via Instagram. “I know I have some big shoes to fill … well actually they’re only a size 9, but you know what I mean. @kellyripa my ride or die. This is going to be amazing! I can’t believe after all these years of listening to you talk for free, I found a way to get paid for it. Is this a great country or what? ❤️.”
