Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos may be the perfect duo on and off the screen, but it turns out the couple were initially hesitant about sharing the spotlight together on LIVE.
In an interview on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, the 54-year-old opened up about the early days of co-hosting the hit show alongside her husband. Kelly admitted that Mark had a surprising reaction when he was first offered the permanent role on ABC.
“It was really convincing Mark,” she explained. “Because initially when they came to Mark, he flat out refused.”
And it seems Kelly shared her husband’s apprehension about working together on the show. “I also thought that was kind of a bad idea,” she shared. “I was like a husband and a wife hosting a morning show is different than a husband and wife acting together or producing something together.”
However, despite their concerns, the double act proved to be a hit with fans. “The audience really responds to Mark because Mark has a gives zero fs attitude,” Kelly said.
© Disney via Getty Images“And the audience loves that. There’s no artifice with him. If he hates something, he hates it out loud no matter how much we’re supposed to love it. And when he thinks something is dumb, he says it no matter how much we’re supposed to pretend to like whatever the thing is.”
“We have been together for 31 years and we are not afraid to express ourselves publicly, there is no artifice,” she added. “We’re not worried about protecting each other’s feelings. We both just say what is on our minds and I guess people find that relatable.”
Mark – who shares kids Michael, 28, Lola, 24, and Joaquin, 22, with his wife – joined LIVE officially in 2023 following Ryan Seacrest’s departure.
Co-hosting dynamic
Despite their natural on-screen chemistry, Kelly also revealed the one thing her husband does on live TV that irritates her the most. “He doesn’t listen to me frequently, and he will tune me out while we are live on the air,” she shared.
© Getty Images for Family Equality“And I’m like here’s the thing, I’m used to you tuning me out in life, but when you are being paid – highly paid by the way – to literally listen to me, then you have to listen to me.”
© Kelly Ripa/LIVE with Kelly and MarkShe continued: “Literally I watch him. I watch him drift away. And I’m like, ‘Hey don’t do that.'”
Kelly and Mark first met when they began co-starring on All My Children in 1995. The couple eloped in Las Vegas back in 1996.
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