ENTERTAINMENTMark Consuelos Wasn't 'on Board' With Hosting 'Live' at First, Wife Kelly Ripa Reveals Amid Actor's Absence From Talk Show
Mark Consuelos started co-hosting 'Live' with Kelly Ripa in 2023.
July 31 2025, Published 6:04 p.m. ET
Mark Consuelos needed some convincing before joining his wife, Kelly Ripa, as a permanent co-host on Live in April 2023.
During a guest appearance on the Thursday, July 31, episode of the "Not Gonna Lie" podcast, Ripa opened up to host Kylie Kelce about how her husband landed his gig as Ryan Seacrest's replacement more than two years ago.
The confession occurred after Kelce asked Ripa what it's like to work with her spouse every day, though the 54-year-old noted she and Consuelos had actually started their careers — and their relationship — by working together on the set of All My Children in the 1990s.
How Mark Consuelos Landed 'Live' Co-Hosting Gig
Kelly Ripa has been hosting 'Live' for 25 years.
"We were used to working together," she explained, noting how Consuelos appeared as a guest co-host on Live "at least 100 times" before landing the permanent role.
"He was always filling in at the last minute. COVID year he was constantly filing in. He was just always there. He made sense to take over, we just had to make it make sense to him," Ripa continued.
The Hope & Faith actress admitted Consuelos took some convincing, as he "wasn't really on board with hosting" full-time.
Kelly Ripa admitted it took some convincing for Mark Consuelos to co-host 'Live' with her.
"He’s like, 'no its fun to do once in a while because its only once in a while!'" she recalled.
Ripa said she assured her husband that the talk show was "so great" and "so much easier than doing a soap [opera]."
"It's such a finite amount of time and you can still go off and have a full life. So that has made it really easy," she told Kelce.
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What has made the couple able to balance their shared work and home lives, however, is that Ripa and Consuelos go their "separate ways after [each] morning taping."
"We don't see each other again until dinner. We need some separation. We need some mystery between us," she quipped.
Kelly Ripa Reveals the 'Best Thing' About Hosting 'Live' With Mark Consuelos
Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa love to tease one another on-air.
Ripa then playfully revealed what "the best thing about hosting a talk show" with Consuelos is — arguing on-air.
The daytime talk show star mentioned how people always ask her what happens if she and Consuelos get into an argument the night before and still have to appear on television together the next day.
Ripa joked how it's the "best" when bickering occurs during the actual talk show, as "your audience becomes your counselors" and helps sort things out.
"Spoiler alert, I'm usually right," she declared.
Mark Consuelos has been missing from recent 'Live' episodes as he's working in L.A.
Ripa's explanation about how Consuelos became her co-host comes as the Riverdale actor has been missing from the past three episodes of Live With Kelly and Mark while "working on a show out in L.A."
On Tuesday, July 29, Ripa was joined by guest host Jerry O'Connell, while David Muir appeared for the Wednesday, July 30, taping and Carson Kressley filled in for Consuelos on the Thursday, July 31.
