Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos Finally Open Up About the Struggles in Their Relationship
Kelly and Mark’s Perfect Relationship
From the fateful day they met in 1995 right up to hosting their new morning talk show, Ripa and Consuelos are often seen as the perfect Hollywood couple. They met and fell in love young, married, had three children, and took their careers and relationship to dizzying new heights by co-presenting Live With Kelly and Mark.
But is there more to their marriage than meets the eye? Before we find out, let’s quickly get to know Kelly and Mark and the bizarre circumstances under which they got together.
Kelly’s Childhood
Kelly Maria Ripa was born in Berlin, New Jersey, on October 2nd, 1970. She graduated from Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, where she was a cheerleader, and her drama teacher encouraged her to pursue acting.
Kelly wanted to be a newscaster, but in 1986, she appeared as a regular dancer on Dancin’ on Air, which became Dance Party USA. Ripa was cast in her first major acting role in 1990 as Hayley Vaughan, a troubled party girl, on ABC’s daytime soap opera All My Children.
Mark’s Childhood
Mark Andrew Consuelos was born in Zaragoza, Spain, on March 30th, 1971, to an Italian mother, Camilla, and a Mexican father, Saul. He grew up in Italy, Illinois, and Florida. Mark attended the University of Notre Dame but then switched to the University of South Florida, graduating with a degree in marketing in 1994.
The following year, Consuelos landed an audition to play Mateo Santos, Hayley Vaughan’s love interest. But first, he had to win the heart of the casting director, which was going to be tricky, seeing as he had no acting experience.
Love at First Sight
By the time Mark auditioned for All My Children, Kelly had been playing troubled Hayley Vaughan for five years. Before he even landed in New York, the casting director showed her Mark’s headshot, at which point she fell head over heels in love with him.
Kelly explained, “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; when I saw him… the photograph of him, I saw my entire future with him flash… I saw it.”
Who would’ve thought that an audition for a daytime soap opera would result in one of Hollywood’s most enduring love stories? A quarter of a century into their marriage, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are as close and raunchy as the day they met. But is their relationship as healthy as they make it out to be? Today, we discover the good, the bad, and the ugly from Kelly and Mark’s relationship — including Mark’s insane jealousy and how he and Kelly once broke up.