Kelly Ripa‘s husband Mark Consuelos has revealed the secret to their long and happy marriage of 27 years and counting.
The two of them first met in 1994 when he was auditioning for the soap opera All My Children, which launched both of their careers.
Over the decades, their work took them in separate directions, as she became one of the biggest morning hosts in America and he acted on such series as Riverdale.
But the constant has been their romance – they eloped to Las Vegas on May Day 1996 and have been together ever since, welcoming three children.
Now even their careers have converged once again, with Mark becoming the latest in a string of co-hosts to star on Live! with Kelly.
So what advice does Mark have for sustaining a successful relationship?
Kelly Ripa ‘s husband Mark Consuelos has revealed the secret to their long and happy marriage of 27 years and counting; pictured at the 2020s Oscars
The two of them first met in 1994 when he was auditioning for the soap opera All My Children, which launched both of their careers (pictured)
The constant has been their marriage – they eloped to Las Vegas on May Day 1996 and have been together ever since, welcoming three children; pictured 1997
‘Find someone that you enjoy walking on the beach with, talking about the future, about what you want,’ Mark told the digital lifestyle magazine Mr Feelgood.
‘We did that when we were 24 years old, and we still do it now. Like: “Wouldn’t it be great if we could do this?”‘ the Hollywood heartthrob explained.
‘I never want to stop doing that, dreaming about what we could do. Now there’s talk about grandchildren, and we’re designing things around that – we want to be the magnets, we want to be the favorite grandparents. So we’re building the magnets so they have to come to us,’ Mark dished.
All three of the children Mark shares with Kelly have now reached adulthood – Michael is 26, Lola is 22 and Joaquim is 20.
‘It’s those kinds of conversations that really tie us together,’ said Mark, reflecting on the way he and Kelly plan for their lives going forward.
‘Even though I know I’m highly annoying and she is extremely patient. I would say that’s definitely a big factor in our relationship – her patience.’
He waxed rhapsodic about Kelly, who ‘definitely challenges me in the best possible ways. I’m just crazy about her when I look at her. Something happens. That was the initial thing – I can’t not be with this person.’
Mark declared: ‘The word allegiance is probably not a strong enough word – but I know she has my back, and I hope she knows I have hers.’
‘Find someone that you enjoy walking on the beach with, talking about the future, about what you want,’ Mark told Mr Feelgood; pictured on All My Children in 1997
‘We did that when we were 24 years old, and we still do it now,’ the Hollywood heartthrob explained: ‘Like: “Wouldn’t it be great if we could do this?”‘
All three of the children Mark shares with Kelly have now reached adulthood – Michael is 26, Lola is 22 and Joaquim is 20; pictured 2015
‘Now there’s talk about grandchildren, and we’re designing things around that – we want to be the magnets, we want to be the favorite grandparents,’ Mark dished
He added: ‘And I love the fact that as we go on, especially as it’s been 27 years now, the chapters in the book of our love story are just so different. Every chapter is so unique – and we have so many great memories.’
In February 2020, Kelly revealed on Live! that Mark had just surprised her with roses to celebrate the 26th anniversary of the day they first met.
He approached her as she left the gym and, from outside her line of vision, said: ‘Hey, sexy’ – causing her to assume she was about to be robbed.
She shared that ‘it never occurs to me that this person is talking to me, but it sounds too close, and I was like: “I’m about to get mugged by somebody – I’m about to be mugged by somebody flirting with somebody who doesn’t even have the thoughtfulness to pay attention to me while they’re mugging me!”‘
However she eventually realized it was Mark, who gave her the flowers and explained to her that ‘today is 26 years to the day since we met.’
He waxed rhapsodic about Kelly, who ‘definitely challenges me in the best possible ways’ and leaves him ‘just crazy about her when I look at her’
Mark declared: ‘The word allegiance is probably not a strong enough word — but I know she has my back, and I hope she knows I have hers’; pictured 2006
‘And I said: “You are kidding me!” I said: “How did you know that?” He goes: “I worked it out in my head, because this is – ” when we met, when he flew to New York to screen test for All My Children, that was the day we met,’ she dished.
Mark dished on Watch What Happens Live the previous year that he and Kelly briefly broke up just before their marriage.
During the split, they ‘had to meet’ to promote All My Children on Live With Regis And Kathie Lee – the show Kelly would eventually co-host with Regis Philbin.
‘We were pushing like furniture on for a Queen For A Day, for the Mother’s Day special, seriously, and we were together,’ said Mark.
‘She wouldn’t talk to me and that made me go crazy,’ he remembered, confessing that he ‘followed her into – in Central Park, I stalked her, and then I – we went back to my place and then we got married the next day.’
