Mark Consuelos is currently known for playing the criminal Hiram Lodge on the CW's hit series Riverdale and its spinoff Katy Keene. Though the actor does a great job of playing the complete opposite of a family man on screen, in real life he's happy and settled. He's been married to daytime host Kelly Ripa for over 20 years...with three beautiful children and careers going strong, they really couldn't ask for anything more.
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In an interview with SiriusXM's Lunch with Bruce, Ripa explains that she fell in love with her husband at first sight...literally. She initially just saw a photograph of Consuelos when she was a soap opera star on ABC's All My Children. At the time, the actor was basically a nobody who had really only worked as a dancer. This was his big breakout role.
"I was not a hopeless romantic. I never thought about getting married. It never occurred to me that I would grow old with someone. I just thought I would be living my single girl life in the city," Ripa said. "I had no responsibilities and I was earning a good living on the soap opera...So when I saw him, the photograph of him, I saw my entire future with him flash before [my eyes]. Like. I saw it. I [didn't] believe in any of that and now I do because of that moment."
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The Live with Kelly and Ryan co-host starred on the soap opera from 1990-2002 and when Consuelos was cast as Mateo Santos, it was an instant connection between the two.
"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." Ripa told Elle.
One year after becoming co-stars, the couple tied the knot in 1996. How adorable is the above throwback pic that Consuelos shared on social media of the couple's honeymoon? Ripa explained to co-host Ryan Seacrest on their talk show that no one on the set of their daytime soap even knew that she and Consuelos were an item. Some of their co-stars on set didn't even realize they were married after they eloped to Las Vegas and honeymooned in Italy. Ripa recalls shocking one particular actress on set with the news that not only was Consuelos her husband, but the father of her unborn child.
In 1997, the couple welcomed their first child together, Michael Joseph Consuelos. Daughter Lola Grace followed in 2001 and youngest son Joaquin Antonio in 2003. The soap alums have been happily married for over 20 years and are open about how much they adore each other. Even though they've been separated during COVID -- Consuelos is quarantining in Canada for Riverdale and Ripa is in New York for her primetime talk show -- you can tell they are just as connected today as they were decades ago.
"It all began with All My Children. And All My Children is where I met the man that I have been married to for almost 20 years—the love of my life, the man who taught me how to be a person, a real person. And we have three of the most beautiful children that I'm so proud of on the planet, Joaquin and Lola and Michael," Ripa said during her Hollywood Walk of Fame speech.
For Consuelos, he loves his wife for multiple reasons. He explained to Oprah Winfrey that his attraction is also more than just physical after all these years together.
"I'm married to one of the most voracious readers that you could ever meet. She reads and reads and reads and reads," Mark said. "And I'm so attracted to my wife and not [just] on a physical level, but her brain is so sexy. Like she really knows so much ... she's been ahead of the curve so many times."
The couple is so compatible they are even strong business partners. In 2007 they founded Milojo Productions (combining their children's names) and have worked on a ton of high profile projects. They are currently serving as executive producers on a docuseries for Disney Plus as well as an adaptation of the novel Mexican Gothic for Hulu. These two have really proved that you can have it all!
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