Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are set to host a daytime talk show together. Here's a timeline of the
- Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa have been married for 24 years.
- They met while working on "All My Children" in 1995 and eloped the following year in Las Vegas.
- Now, they share three children and are set to become cohosts on "Live With Kelly and Mark."
Like many Hollywood couples, Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa fell fast and hard for each other when they were cast as on-screen love interests. What sets them apart, however, is that they've lasted more than 24 years as a married couple.
Though their lives look much different than when they were primarily known as sweethearts on "All My Children," Ripa and Consuelo's relationship has stood the test of time and proven that their instincts were spot on.
Here's a timeline of the duo's romance, from collaborating on projects to parenting their three children:
1995: Ripa met Consuelos at his audition for 'All My Children'
By the time Consuelos flew to New York City to audition for the role of Mateo Santos on "All My Children," Ripa had been playing Hayley Vaughan for five years on the soap opera.
The moment the casting director showed Ripa the Spanish actor's headshot, she fell for him.
"At that point, I was not a hopeless romantic. I never thought about getting married. It never occurred to me that I would grow old with someone," she said on an episode of "Radio Andy," continuing, "When I saw him — the photograph of him — I saw my entire future with him flash — I saw it."
Consuelos, on the other hand, was primarily focused on securing the job.
"My main focus was getting the job and I couldn't believe my luck, having been in New York for five minutes," Consuelos told E! News.
The actor continued: "My first impression of my wife was — she was obviously extremely beautiful — but she was really funny, really intelligent, really quick. I realized that if I was ever to get into an argument with her, I would lose every single time."
He ended up landing the role and played Vaughan's love interest on the show until 2001.
While filming part of "All My Children" in Jamaica, the two were spotted together by paparazzi, leading people to believe that their island escape was a public confirmation of their relationship. In reality, the two were in Jamaica for work and had already spent months dating.
1996: The co-stars briefly broke up before eloping in Las Vegas
During a 2019 episode of "Watch What Happens Live," Consuelos revealed that he and Ripa broke up the week before they tied the knot.
While they were both newly single, they had to meet for a joint appearance on "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee" to discuss "All My Children."
"She wouldn't talk to me, and that made me go crazy," he recalled.
Consuelos said that he "followed her" into Central Park to make amends after the show, adding that they got married the next day. The actors flew to Las Vegas, used a phone book to find a chapel, and exchanged vows on May 1, 1996.
After the wedding, they spent a week in Rome and Capri for their honeymoon.
August 27, 1996: They opened up about married life in a joint interview
From falling in love on set to their wedding details, they spoke to Soap Opera Digest in their first joint interview as a married couple.
They kicked off the interview by sharing how quickly they formed feeling for each other.
"As far as I'm concerned, instantly — before we ever had a scene together. We've been spending 12 hours a day together for the past year and a half," Consuelos said.
Ripa added, "We just understood each other really well. If two people were ever supposed to be together, I'd say it was us."
Consuelos also said the couple decided to elope rather than have a big wedding since "marriage has nothing to do with anybody but me and my wife."
Following their wedding, Consuelos said they had a second ceremony at a Catholic church with both of their families.
June 2, 1997: They welcomed their first son, Michael
Just one year after they got married, the couple welcomed their first child, Michael Joseph Consuelos. His godmother is Eva LaRue, the couple's "All My Children" co-star.
Michael is now 23 years old and graduated from New York University with a degree in film. He's even played a younger version of his father's character on "Riverdale."
June 16, 2001: Consuelos and Ripa had a baby girl named Lola
The couple welcomed their daughter Lola Consuelos in 2001.
During an episode of "Live With Kelly and Ryan," Ripa explained how she and Consuelos landed on their daughter's name. The co-host recalled that the song "Copacabana" by Barry Manilow was playing in the cab while she was in labor.
The opening line of the song sings, "Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl."
"I turned to Mark, and I said, 'Lola Consuelos is a great name.' And he goes, 'That is a great name,'" she recalled.
Now 19 years old, Lola is a sophomore at New York University and an aspiring singer.
February 24, 2003: They had their third child, Joaquin
The couple welcomed Joaquin Consuelos, their third child, in 2003. He's now 17 years old.
2007: The duo started a production company called Milojo
Consuelos and Ripa launched a production company called Milojo, a play on the first two letters of their three children's names, in 2007.
Milojo's first project was an Emmy-nominated documentary called "The Streak." Since then, the company has worked with "Discovery Channel," "TLC," and "Logo."
May 1, 2016: Ripa and Consuelos celebrated their 20th anniversary
The couple celebrated their 20th anniversary early by taking a trip to Turks and Caicos in April.
During an episode of "Live With Kelly and Michael," she showed a photo of herself wearing a white floor-length gown on the anniversary trip. Excited that the garment still fit her two decades later, she explained that it was her wedding dress.
"The dress is 25 years old. My marriage is 20 years old. I didn't buy it as a wedding dress. I just bought it because it was really pretty, and I wanted to buy something from the Barneys Warehouse sale," Ripa said, adding, "I was working the soap. I didn't make a lot of money. It was $199 on final clearance sale. 'Do I eat this week, or do I get this dress?' Literally, this was the thought process."
January 23, 2019: Consuelos said he's 'crazy' about Ripa
"I'm crazy about her," the actor told Us Weekly, adding, "She's an extremely patient and a tolerant woman, and I think that's the true secret to our marriage."
Consuelos also said that he always wakes up early in the morning with Ripa to make her a cup of coffee and to talk before work.
"I like to hear from her, she likes to hear from me," he said.
January 30, 2019: Ripa played Consuelos' mistress on an episode of 'Riverdale'
Ripa made a guest appearance on "Riverdale" as Mrs. Mulwray, Hiram Lodge's (Consuelos) mistress. Her husband was the one that initially offered her the part, she told Entertainment Weekly.
"He said, 'Roberto wants to know if you would be interested in doing a role on the show.' Michael had just played a young version of Mark, and I said, 'Oh my gosh, honey, they're going to be so sick of Consueloses on the set of 'Riverdale,'" she explains.
Ripa added, "I started naming all these women that I thought would be the perfect actress to play Hiram's mistress, and he was like, 'No, Roberto wants you.'"
She added, "How can I turn down an offer like that?"
June 16, 2019: Lola walked in on them during an intimate moment
Ripa and Consuelos joked about the moment that their daughter Lola walked in on them having sex on her 18th birthday during an episode of "Live With Kelly and Ryan."
After she opened the door to find her parents in bed, the teen yelled, "Thanks for ruining my birthday. And thanks for ruining my life. I used to see in color, and now everything is gray!"
October 2, 2019: Consuelos said he would've been married '3 or 4 times by now' if he never met Ripa
For Ripa's 49th birthday, her husband posted a throwback photo of her as a child.
"Happy Birthday to my Fave..I'm really glad you were born.. Because let's face it, if you weren't , I would've been married 3 or 4 times by now. Which would've been really expensive, not to mention the super tense parent teacher conferences and all the awkward blended family holiday/vacations. Anyway, happy birthday sweetie," he wrote.
April 17, 2020: They opened up about their sex life
"I think we found each other at the right time in our lives," Ripa said on "Quarantined With Bruce."
She continued, "We were really young — not that that's the right time in somebody's life. But we were really, like, pliable, right? We were pliable to each other. We learned each other well. With that, comes a certain level of comfort and confidence and experimentation and just fun. Like, we have fun."
May 1, 2020: Ripa and Consuelos posted tributes to each other on their 24th wedding anniversary
Even though they were self-isolating during the pandemic, the couple still celebrated 24 years of marriage with sweet messages to each other on social media.
Ripa shared a video montage of herself and Consuelos through the years and wrote, "Happy Anniversary to the love of my life, or at least half my life @instasuelos cheers to 24 years!"
Consuelos chose a close-up photo of their hands and captioned the photo: "Making a life, sharing a history, holding you close for 24 years. I love you @kellyripa."
February 2023: It was announced the couple would be hosting a show together
Ryan Seacrest exited "Live With Kelly and Ryan" after six years. According to Variety, Ripa's new cohost will be Consuelo and the show will be rebranded as "Live With Kelly and Mark."
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