Meet the other woman! Kelly Ripa made her debut as real-life husband Mark Consuelos’ mistress during the Wednesday, January 30, episode of Riverdale, titled “Chapter Forty-Six: The Red Dahlia.”
The Live With Kelly and Ryan host’s character, Ms. Mulwray, found herself entangled in Jughead’s (Cole Sprouse) investigation into who shot Hiram (Consuelos). Hermione (Marisol Nichols) claimed to the lead Serpent that she caught Hiram having an affair with Mulwray when she ordered Sheriff Minetta (Henderson Wade) to follow her husband. The mayor alleged that Hiram called off the dalliance after she discovered the pair meeting up at the Five Seasons frequently.
However, Jughead followed the lead, breaking into Mulwray’s room at the hotel. There, he found documents that proved Hiram’s mistress, a health and sanitation inspector, helped him fabricate a water report after his Fizzle Rocks empire sullied the river with runoff that caused seizures throughout the town.
Ms. Mulwray pulled a gun on Jughead when she saw him in her room, and he proceeded to interrogate her, all while holding her Glamergé egg — a gift from Hiram — hostage. The encounter ended peacefully with Ms. Mulwray getting her trinket back and Jughead escaping with his information.
Elsewhere in the episode, FP (Skeet Ulrich) admitted to shooting Hiram for revenge and in exchange for his role as sheriff. Jughead helped his father get off the hook by framing Tall Boy (Scott McNeil) for the attack. Hermione also shot a surprisingly alive Sheriff Minetta — turns out, they were having an affair too.
Archie (KJ Apa) saved Hiram from another attempt on his life, and the rivals called a truce. Furthermore, Betty (Lili Reinhart) realized Penelope (Nathalie Boltt) committed several murders, including her own husband’s, but let her walk because she thought her reasoning might have been justified.
Ripa, 48, announced her guest role via Instagram in November 2018. “It’s a family affair,” she teased at the time. “Hiram’s mistress. 23 years of auditioning for a role I was born to play.”
Consuelos, 47, who married the Hope & Faith alum in 1996, told Us Weekly exclusively earlier this month that the casting was not his idea.
“[Riverdale creator] Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] called me and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a question to ask you. Do you think she’d want to do it?’ And I said, ‘You know, yeah. Give her a call!’ They spoke and they figured it out,” he recalled. “Roberto’s awesome, man. No one knows this world better than him. He just made it happen. I definitely did not ask for him to do that. I think he thought it would be so much fun.”
Riverdale airs on The CW Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
