Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' Journey From Coworkers to Lovers and Back

It was love at first glance! Kelly Ripa knew Mark Consuelos was the one before ever meeting him. “I knew when I saw his photograph," the Live! co-host admitted on Radio Andy's Lunch with Bruce back in 2018. “When I saw him, the photograph of him, I saw my entire future with him flash before like I saw it,” Ripa added. “And I don’t believe in any of that and now I do because of that moment.”

Get to know the man who ended up becoming Ripa's husband both onscreen and offscreen:

Who is Kelly Ripa's husband Mark Consuelos?

Ripa's husband is Mark Consuelos. The actor is known for his role as Mateo Santos on ABC's All My Children. Riverdale fans will also recognize Consuelos as Hiram Lodge on The CW series.

How did Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos meet?

In 1995, Ripa auditioned Consuelos for All My Children. While the actress "knew that he was the guy" she was going to marry the day she met him, Consuelos, on the other hand, told Ryan Seacrest on Live! that he didn't think he had a chance with Ripa.

"I thought she was adorable, hot and sexy and all that stuff," he said in a 2014 interview with HuffPost Live. "But I was very focused–I didn't really think I had a chance with her, so I wasn't really focused on that."

Ripa was drawn to her husband "because he was positively an alpha male." She told ELLE in 2013, "I didn't think I would be drawn to that. But I just worship him. He makes me feel very safe."

Watch Ripa and Consuelos' first screen test together below:

Related: Why Was Kelly Ripa Missing from Live?

When did Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos get married?

The soap opera stars tied the knot in 1996. "We fell in love long before our characters fell in love...but we were around each other a lot," Consuelos once told E!. Funny enough, Ripa and Consuelos' characters, Hayley Vaughan and Mateo Santos, ended up getting married on All My Children.

What was Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' wedding like?

The pair eloped in Vegas with Ripa wearing a $199 dress she purchased years before at a Barney's warehouse sale! As for why they chose Las Vegas? Ripa told Soap Opera Digest in 1996, "It was very weird and very simple. Mark just said, 'Let’s go to Vegas.'"

"It was the best kind of engagement," Consuelos said. "I didn’t want to fight with Kelly about how many of her girlfriends she was going to have at the wedding and which relatives we don’t like. To me, marriage has nothing to do with anybody but me and my wife."

The actor noted it was a "great wedding." After the ceremony was over, the couple had "an overwhelming sense of peace." Ripa explained, "It just seemed like it was supposed to happen that way."

How many kids do Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have?

The couple welcomed their first child, son Michael, in 1997. Then in 2001, Consuelos got the "best" Father's Day present with the birth of his and Ripa's daughter Lola. The pair's third child, Joaquin, was born in 2003.

Ripa credits her and Consuelos' soap opera All My Children with her "entire life."

"All My Children is responsible for my entire life. I don't like to say that lightly. I met my husband on All My Children. I had my children on All My Children," she told Entertainment Tonight in 2021. "I got [Live With Regis and Kelly] standing in my dressing room on All My Children. It's responsible for my entire life. I'm not being glib when I say that."

What is Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' marriage like?

Consuelos has described him and Ripa as "superpartners in crime." And while Ripa is a household name, the duo's roles at home are "fairly traditional," according to ELLE. "I actually call [Mark] Desi, because the thing about Desi was that as much attention as Lucy got, Desi was always in charge," Ripa shared. Consuelos confessed, "If I were back in the 1950s, I'd be perfectly happy."

That being said, Ripa isn't afraid to speak up if something bothers her. In a 2010 interview with Good Housekeeping, she said. "If something bothers me, I just say it, no harm, no foul. So much of marriage is ego-based—who's right, who wins the argument. Mark and I don't really have that."

For Ripa, marriage is a "marathon," not a sprint. "You’re going to fight, you’re going to have disagreements. Relationships, marriages are not sprints, it’s a marathon," she said on Live! (via PEOPLE) in 2020. "There’s going to be like, mile 24, when you’re like, 'I quit.' But you just got to push through. Just push through."

Ripa believes "there’s really nothing that’s that insurmountable." She said, "I mean, besides abuse and things of that nature. You’re going to fight. You’re going to have disagreements. You’re going to fundamentally not agree on things. And if you take a breath, you usually can’t remember what you’re fighting about."

Meanwhile in the bedroom, the mom of three has admitted to having "lots of sex" with her husband. "I fundamentally believe that the more you do it, the more you do it, the less you do it, the less you do it," she told Andy Cohen (via E!) in 2014. "We just like each other a lot. I love my husband. I think he's awesome. We've been together a really long time. We try to do spicy things together all the time."

Related: Who Are the Host of The Talk?

Why does Kelly Ripa call Mark Consuelos "daddy"?

As it turns out, Andy Cohen is the one who gave Ripa's husband the nickname, which the actor finds "totally hilarious." Explaining the origin of the moniker, Consuelos revealed to Esquire in 2019 that it started when he was away shooting and his wife was at home with the Watch What Happens Live host.

“During one of my breaks, I called and Andy answered and I asked: ‘Hey, can you do me a favor? Can you make sure a certain door is locked?’ People always forget to lock this door, and I wasn't home," Consuelos recalled, noting that he was "kind of being" a dad.

He continued, "Andy said, ‘Sure, OK, daddy.’ And that's where it started, and it stuck. It was pre-whatever daddy represents on Riverdale. It’s hilarious. It's totally hilarious."

Next, Kelly Ripa reveals why mammograms are difficult for her.