Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are taking their relationship to the next level as co-hosts of “Live!”
However, the longtime couple, who has been very open about their sex life in public, has decided to put a hold on their sexual life while working together on the show.
Kelly Ripa assured fans that there will be no inappropriate behavior between her and her husband, Mark Consuelos, when they become co-hosts on Live (Credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock)
On April 6, the 52-year-old talk show host revealed she made the “vow of chastity” while jokingly addressing the controversial workplace relationship between former GMA3 hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes during her “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” appearance.
Cohen asked a question from a WWHL viewer to Ripa, “As someone who’s about to have your husband join you as co-host, what was your reaction to Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes’ relationship on GMA3?”
After Cohen noted that Robach and Holmes should have stayed on-air since their relationship made for “compelling” television, Ripa concurred and playfully hinted that she and Consuelos have a strategy in place.
She joked, “Mark and I have taken a vow of chastity while we’ll be working together.”
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Ripa, who has claimed to have acute Botox deficiency, noted, “Because I know how ABC does not like that, you know, TV partners banging on the side.”
The actress, who has a daughter named Lola, 21, and sons Michael, 25, and Joaquin, 20, with her husband, added, “So we promise, no banging on the side.”
This remark came after Robach and Holmes were ousted from their positions in December after their affair was revealed to the public in November.
After investigating their relationship, ABC announced in January that Holmes and Robach would not return to their jobs because “we all agreed it’s best for everyone that they move on from ABC News.”
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have been together for over 25 years and first met on the set of the soap opera “All My Children” in the early 1990s, where they played each other’s love interests (Credit: Marion Curtis / Startraksphoto)
Soon after Ryan Seacrest announced his departure from the daytime talk show in February, it was later revealed that Ripa and Consuelos, who have been married since 1996, will take over as hosts of “Live! with Kelly and Ryan”, which also airs on ABC.
On the program, Seacrest, whose last day on the show will be April 14, said that the decision to leave was “tough, tough” and “bittersweet.”
He paid tribute to his friendship with Ripa and said, “Working alongside Kelly over the past six years has been a dream job and one of the highlights of my career.”
He continued, “She has been an amazing partner, friend, and confidant, and although we will always be a part of each other’s lives, I will miss our mornings together.”
Kelly Ripa, husband Mark Consuelos, daughter Lola Consuelos, sons Michael Consuelos and Joaquin Consuelos attend the ceremony honoring Kelly Ripa with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 12, 2015, in Hollywood, California (Credit: DFree / Shutterstock)
In a 2012 interview with Vanity Fair, Ripa discussed the possibility of Consuelos joining her as a regular co-host for “Live! with Kelly.”
She said, “No one would make me happier than Mark, but he values our marriage, and he says that he doesn’t see how we could stay married, and both do that show.”
However, more than a decade later, the couple will now have the opportunity to work together again, as they did when they first connected as young stars on “All My Children.”
Consuelos spoke to Entertainment Tonight at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in March about his new role and wife, calling it an honor to sit beside her on the show. The How I Met Your Father actor is set to appear alongside his longtime partner starting on April 17 on ABC.
He said, “It’s an honor. It’s such an iconic show. That seat next to my wife is such a cherished seat. I consider her the best in the business, so I’m really excited.”
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos co-own a production company called Milojo, and the couple was named one of the Most Powerful People in Media by The Hollywood Reporter in 2014 (Credit: Michael Simon / Startraksphoto)
The actor continued, “Let’s go back to work. That’s how we started, so it’s like coming full circle.”
He described the program, broadcasted nationally since 1988, “It’s a moving train already. It’s a well-oiled machine. The staff’s amazing. Michael Gelman runs a great program. I’m just gonna just hopefully keep it on the tracks.”
Despite the change in a co-host, Ripa promised that the transition would be “seamless.” In 2015, she was awarded the 2,561st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Television category.
On April 5, the host talked to People at Variety’s 2023 Power of Women event at The Grill in New York City and committed that the upcoming changeover on her ABC-syndicated daytime show would go well.
She said, “It’s gonna be seamless. Nothing will really change, just the different name on the mug,” and noted that Seacrest, who is leaving “Live!” after six years, and Consuelos are “like brothers.”