Strange Things About Kelly Ripa And Mark Consuelos' Marriage

Tying the knot on May 1, 1996, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have been married for almost three decades, which is a monumental feat for any relationship, but especially for one that started between two actors who met on the set of "All My Children."

The acting couple has attributed much of their relationship success to open communication. This apparently also translates to their fans, because over the years, Consuelos and Ripa have revealed a lot about their personal lives. Like, way too much. Ripa once told Elle magazine, "I feel like I have a friendship with my audience," and that has meant that we've heard it all; the good, the bad, and the downright weird.

Throughout the years, we've learned that this high-profile marriage has had more wacky twists and turns than any soap opera we've ever seen. Here are strange things about Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' marriage.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Kelly Ripa revealed that she knew about Mark Consuelos's days as "a go-go boy" long before the National Enquirer story revealed what they called "Kelly Ripa's Sexy Secret." For her, Consuelos's stripper past is no biggie. "A lot of hot guys in Hollywood have done that," Ripa related. "He was straight out of college, and he went to Notre Dame and finished his degree at the University of South Florida. So, there he was in South Florida, he's gorgeous, looking to break into show business, so he started off as a roadie to a group of these guys, and then they talked him into stripping."

The Enquirer story took a strange twist when it alleged that Consuelos danced under the name "Meaty Mark" at a Tampa strip club called Stingers, which we have no way of confirming, but we seriously hope is true. What has been confirmed is that photos of Consuelos in his "banana hammock" or "donkey thong," as the Vanity Fair interviewer phrased it, do exist. In fact, Ripa has them! "Oh yeah. I even have an old calendar pinup of him," she said, before adding, "He is so unbelievably gorgeous, with a Mexican father, Italian mother born in Spain and raised in Italy, and I will never give him up."

They may be as happy and as in love as ever, but their relationship hasn't been perfect. In 1996 — after dating for about a year — they broke up. Now, we don't know the exact details on what went wrong, but we do know how Mark Consuelos managed to get Kelly Ripa back into his life.

After their breakup, they were both scheduled to make an appearance on "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee," and Mark Consuelos told "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" that Ripa wouldn't talk to him the entire time. Naturally, the silent treatment drove him crazy. So afterward, he proceeded to follow her into Central Park — or, as he described it, he "stalked her." Yikes! Somehow, he was able to persuade her to head back to his place. The very next day, they eloped so, obviously, they made up. Well, that or Ripa has a strange thing for stage-5 clingers!

Some famous couples make a big deal out of their wedding. Kim Kardashian has even televised two of hers. But Ripa and Consuelos went the complete opposite direction for their nuptials. Sure, it's probably because at the time they were both just soap opera actors on "All My Children" and weren't megastars yet, but the real reason is even simpler than that. "We eloped because his brother and sister had also just had weddings, everybody had just got married, our characters on 'All My Children' were married to each other three different times already. We felt as if we had endured enough weddings. We didn't feel like we needed the big party," Ripa told Vanity Fair.

But Ripa did celebrate the occasion in a special way. In an interview with Elle, she revealed that on the night she said "I do," she also got some fresh ink. It was when the interviewer jokingly said to Ripa of their shared New Jersey roots, "At least you don't have a tramp stamp," Ripa admitted, "Uh, yeah. I have one of those, too." When asked what design she got stamped on her lower back to commemorate her nuptials, Ripa said she'd "rather not say."

You've got to hand it to Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos for keeping their relationship together for decades. But one burr in the matrimonial saddle during their first few years together was apparently Consuelos's constant jealousy of Ripa. "It's very hard being married to somebody who is jealous," she said on her "Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa" podcast in March 2023. Ripa recalled during their first week after they eloped that Consuelos got upset when an aging waiter sweet-talked his new wife.

The climax to his jealousy took place some time after they were married and were working in separate cities. After calling Ripa in their New York pad, Consuelos, at the time in Boston, was unconvinced that she was actually going to make good on cleaning their loft's bathroom that night. He flew to New York, thinking he was going to catch her in the act. When he arrived at their home, Consuelos phoned up to Ripa saying there were flowers for her at the door. Instead, it was her jealousy-ridden husband, and she was definitely not dressed for a romp.

"Meanwhile, I have a johnny mop in one hand, and I'm wearing a bathrobe," Ripa said in the book "What Makes A Marriage Last" (via Cosmopolitan). "So I open the door, and it's him. He comes in — he doesn't even say hello. He's looking for something. I'm still looking for the flower guy! And he's sweeping the scene!"

Mark Consuelos considers himself a man's man. He once explained to Elle, "If I were back in the 1950s, I'd be perfectly happy." Setting aside the fact that his own marriage would have been looked down upon, if not illegal then, that's kind of a strange statement for him to make considering his wife is the obvious breadwinner of the family as well. Nevertheless, the Ozzie and Harriet routine works for them. Kelly Ripa, also speaking to Elle, said, "I actually call [Mark] Desi, because the thing about Desi was that as much attention as Lucy got, Desi was always in charge," adding, "I was drawn to Mark because he was positively an alpha male, and I didn't think I would be drawn to that. But I just worship him. He makes me feel very safe."

Speaking with Good Housekeeping, Ripa also noted that she makes breakfast in bed for Consuelos every weekend, which we assume only applies to times they're actually living in the same city. "I make his coffee every day. I cook him breakfast in bed every weekend: scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, wheat toast, and coffee with cream. That's what he wants. And I serve it to him on a tray," she said. Okay, suddenly those "Bewitched"-themed Electrolux commercials are starting to make a lot more sense.

In a particularly memorable episode of "Live With Kelly," Mark Consuelos was temporarily filling the co-host position when he was blindsided by Kelly Ripa's suggestion that he is "mean to her" after they make love. "When there's special married couple time in our house — do you know what I'm talking about? Because there's kids watching, so I'm just going to say, let's call it special grownup time. He's immediately mean to me afterwards, and I don't like that!" Ripa said (via Us Weekly). "I think it's bizarre. He becomes short with me. You know what I mean? Like irritated," she continued. Consuelos reacted the same way most men having their sexual prowess humiliated on live television would have: He turned beet red and nervously laughed.

Then two weeks later, Consuelos returned to the show and defended himself, saying, in part, "I just wanted to set the record straight that no one can be mean after something if they're unconscious." You see, Mark Consuelos isn't mean after sex, he just passes out immediately. For her part, Ripa apologized, exclaiming, "I was joking!" and then clarified that she didn't mean that he's "mean," but rather "completely disinterested." Consuelos countered with "How about satisfied, and like, just happy?" because that's the same thing, right?

Any Hollywood couple who has been together for over 20 years is inevitably going to face tabloid rumors that their marriage is falling apart. In Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos's case, rumors of trouble first surfaced in 2007, when the National Enquirer alleged (via Today) that the power couple was battling over Consuelos's alleged spending habits and flirtations with his "Husbands for Hire" co-star Nadine Velazquez.

Unfortunately, the rumors didn't stop there. The following year, things got so heated that Ripa had to release a statement after the National Enquirer alleged the couple was headed for divorce. "There is no truth to the story. Their marriage continues to be quite healthy, and the National Enquirer should be ashamed for fabricating such an untruthful story," a spokesperson for Ripa told People magazine. "Their story is 100 percent false." A lawyer for the couple added that they wanted a full retraction of the story and apology from the Enquirer.

Ultimately, Ripa and Consuelos got the last laugh; in May 2024, they celebrated 28 (yep 28) years of marriage together, making those pesky tabloid rumors feel like more of an eye roll than legit.

We've already established that Mark Consuelos strangely passes out immediately after sex, but apparently, his random napping isn't exclusive to the bedroom. During an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," Kelly Ripa discussed what she calls his "Markolepsy," listing all of the places in which Consuelos has taken an impromptu snooze, like while driving, and at awards shows even when he's been nominated. But the most ridiculous anecdote she told was about the time Consuelos actually passed out on the floor of her show producer's bathroom during a dinner party. After going to look for him after his extended absence, Ripa found him dozing in the commode to which he replied, "That bathmat looked so cozy."

On the flip side of that coin, Ripa has admitted that "Five hours of sleep a night is where I am," and that already small window of slumber is usually punctuated with many wake-ups, making her a borderline insomniac. "I typically go to bed at 1:00 a.m. Then I wake up around 3:30 for some reason. I get up and check on the kids. Mark will say, 'Why are you awake?' I'm not sure," she recounted to Good Housekeeping. "I'll check my e-mail. I have a friend who's an insomniac, so there's usually an e-mail from her that I'll respond to. Once I do that, I'm in trouble, because she could respond, and then we're communicating in the middle of the night. I turn on the TV and try to find an infomercial that is very repetitive to put me to sleep. Then I usually get up around 6:00 a.m." Two things about that: 1.) We're no math scholars, but that in no way adds up to five hours of sleep; and 2.) How are either of these people even alive at this point?

As we already know, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos's marriage includes a very active sex life. And strangely, their children are also aware of the couple's playful proclivity. Mark Consuelos was filling in for his wife's co-host, Ryan Seacrest, on "Live With Kelly and Ryan," and the couple dished about their daughter, Lola Consuelos, walking in on them as they were doing the do. "It happened again," Mark declared. Again?! Do they not own any door locks in their home?

To make matters even worse, this particular incident occurred on Lola's 18th birthday, which just so happened to be Father's Day, as well. Ripa admitted she wasn't even in the mood at the time because her in-laws were visiting, and there was a "house full of people," but Mark insisted because hey, it was Father's Day! "You just ruined my birthday and my life," Ripa quoted Lola as saying when she walked in on them. "And I used to see in color and now everything is gray."

Then, the couple had to face the music during an "awkward brunch" with their entire family. In front of Mark's parents, Lola called them "disgusting" and told them they "have no chill." That opened up the floor for all of their children, including sons Joaquin and Michael Consuelos, to begin exchanging stories on when they walked in on the couple, too!

There was a time when the children of these two television stars were not allowed to watch TV. "We are kind of strict. We are a little bit old-school that way," Kelly Ripa explained to Vanity Fair. "There is only one computer in the entire house for the family to share. The computer is just for homework. They are allowed to TiVo but watch TV only on the weekends. TV during the week interferes with schoolwork. There is too much of that 'Let me hurry through, slop this out on the page so I can go watch some television.'"

And no, it's not crazy for parents to implement this restriction, but it's a little strange for people like Ripa and Mark Consuelos to make a case against the evils of television when it has not only provided them with a living, but made them insanely rich to boot. Then again, the Consuelos kids did grow up living in a $20 million dollar SoHo penthouse that boasted a, so if there was going to be a place to get stuck all week not being able to veg out in front of the tube, that would certainly be the spot.

With Kelly Ripa's show based in NYC and Mark Consuelos' acting career based in LA, the A-List duo have often found themselves living a bi-coastal life. Ripa talked about their most recent 3,000 mile family separation to People in July 2016. "Both my son [Michael, 19] and my daughter [Lola, 15] are with Mark in California," Ripa said. "They're all working out there. The two teens are doing internships. They're working at film houses, and Mark is working on a TV show for Fox called 'Pitch,'" she continued. She also said that the family is used to the dynamic and that, "We've done it for years. It's not hard. It's actually something we're quite good at."

Of his experience parenting his two teens solo in LA, Consuelos strangely told ET, "We're very much like roommates." "It's easy. The kids are older now. There's no changing diapers. There's no midnight feedings. In the past, maybe we wouldn't take a job that's so far away, but now it's cool," Consuelos continued. Plus, despite their aforementioned passion, the distance somehow doesn't even affect the couple romantically. "He doesn't need to take me everywhere or do everything with me. I'm very much about us having our own separate time," Ripa noted to Good Housekeeping.

During an episode of "The Wendy Williams Show," Mark Consuelos asked the talk show host to grill his wife about what annoys her the most about him. When Kelly Ripa later appeared on the program in November 2014, Williams posed the somewhat strange question about their marriage, and Ripa jokingly replied, "How many seconds do we have left? I just want to make sure I don't cut in on the rest of the show!"

Then, she got serious and revealed, "I would say the fact that he can not stay awake for anything for longer than four minutes," she said.

Ripa stated that even when they attend Broadway shows, or if he's watching a sporting event on television, he'll immediately pass out! Well, that certainly puts a damper on certain extracurricular activities, doesn't it? That's not all. She told People magazine that she is "openly hostile when Mark leaves the toilet seat up." But despite all the things that tick her off, she stated, "I really do worship Mark," before adding, "I love everything about him, even his annoying habits."

When Mark Consuelos succeeded Ryan Seacrest as co-host with wife Kelly Ripa on the newly-retooled "Live with Kelly and Mark" in April 2023, the launch took place amid a series of doubts about how they could handle the gig together. One major concern was whether a married celebrity couple could manage to carry on a united front before the cameras if there were problems at home between the two.

For his part, Consuelos acknowledged that personality dynamics involving him and his wife might present some drawbacks. "We definitely made a pros and cons list, and the pros list was just so much bigger than the cons list," the actor recounted in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "The cons weren't really cons. We've done this together. We've worked on shows together."

One person who had no doubts over Consuelos's co-hosting abilities was Ripa herself. "I had no concerns about how well he was going to do and he really proved me right," the longtime host gushed to Us Weekly. "I'm so proud of him, but I was never worried."

Sometimes folks wind up doing things that may be best left unsaid to a significant other. Not for Mark Consuelos, though, who confessed to his wife Kelly Ripa during an April 2024 episode of "Live with Kelly and Mark" that he shared a kiss with another woman. That impassioned moment took place at a soccer stadium in Italy where A.S.D. Campobasso 1919, the team the couple co-owns, won a national championship. 

Caught up in the euphoria of his team's victory, Consuelos provided the gripping play-by-play of when he shared an intimate moment with a fan. "We look at each other and we're so excited, and there's this glass and we come to the glass, and you know what? I kissed her," he recounted (via Entertainment Tonight), hoping that a reference to the layer of Plexiglas between him and the amorous stranger would get him off the hook. Hardly as animated, but smiling devilishly, Ripa asked, "Do we have footage of this?"

Ripa pushed further. "Did you have an emotional affair?" she asked. "No, it could have been a guy, by the way, I don't know," replied Consuelos, realizing he was already in deep. "Don't try to save yourself now!" his wife warned. Ripa might not have been impressed by Consuelos's shenanigans in Italy, but at least she trusted him enough to become a minority investor of that title-holding team. "She's extremely competitive and she loved that we were winning," noted Consuelos about his wife's attitude towards the squad (via People).

It seems that on "Live with Kelly and Mark," married co-hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have nothing to hide, including their penchant for nudity. The source of one such titillating account took place in September 2023 when the two started talking about the Brit dating show, "Naked Attraction," in which contestants had to make first impressions with their unfettered physiques. When Ripa put her husband on the spot asking which of her parts attracted him the most, he replied that he was in love with the whole package. "Even the parts that aren't really apparent?" asked Ripa (via E! News). "Even the parts that don't jump out at you?" Countered Consuelos, "They were apparent."

That preoccupation got even more revealing in May the following year, when the topic drifted towards nude sea cruises, and Ripa confessed to being "naked half the time." More modestly, Consuelos claimed he once took an outdoor shower, although Ripa countered he had considerable privacy, leading to another outrageous remark. "By the way, you should be naked everywhere you go," she declared (via Entertainment Weekly), before issuing a warning to less attractive dudes. "Some of these guys that choose to go naked, no offense, guys, but you know who you are. And, let me tell you, some of you guys, you know who you are, should put on more clothes. Nobody needs to see it."

From the moment Mark Consuelos took over co-hosting duties from Ryan Seacrest on "Live with Kelly and Mark," pretty much every sacred cow was worth skewering in public with his wife Kelly Ripa. But during a December 2023 episode (via The U.S. Sun), even they realized that the topic of cheating was a bit too much for them. Ripa brought it up, wondering whether liking someone's Instagram post could be "emotional cheating." After they agreed to disqualify that example, an audience member prompted Ripa to consider whether an emotional affair without physical contact was indicative of cheating. Responded Ripa, "For me, I have the old-fashioned thought of what cheating is in my brain."

When Consuelos challenged her by asking whether a kiss was an example of the physical type of infidelity she had in mind, Ripa said, "I think a kiss on the mouth is probably cheating. That's a very intimate thing. Sometimes kissing is more intimate." That's when Ripa moved to switch topics by saying, "This whole conversation's making me uncomfortable." The awkwardness was understandable, considering past rumors of cheating surrounding the twosome. One dispatch in 2013 claimed Consuelos was having an affair with co-star Yara Martinez on "Alpha House," a now-defunct Amazon streaming series. More recently, tattlers targeted Ripa for supposedly cavorting with "CHiPs" star Erik Estrada while working on the game show "Generation Gap" in 2023. While these are certainly just rumors, infidelity is still definitely an uncomfortable topic for the couple.