Kelly Ripa Reveals Why She and Mark Consuelos Wouldn’t Have Eloped Today After Breaking Up
Actor and talk show host Kelly Ripa isn’t sure if she and husband Mark Consuelos would have still eloped if they relived that backstage moment at Live with Regis and Kathie Lee while broken up today.
Almost immediately before they eloped, Ripa and Consuelos, who were dating, but had broken up, were scheduled to make an appearance on Live. During a recent appearance on What What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, a virtual viewer asked Ripa about the awkward barometer backstage with Consuelos. She said the timing actually couldn’t have been more perfect.
Kelly said having no social media may have saved her relationship during the breakup
Ripa compared what a breakup and being in the greenroom with Consuelos would have been like today versus their appearance in 1996. Ripa explained during the WWHL After Show that she explored the moment in her book. But added, “But I keep saying that I draw a parallel to today. If we were dating then and if we had broken up then and if we had to do Live with Regis and Kathie Lee then, we would not be together,” she said.
“Because we would have been distracted with social media or our cell phones. Or reading the news on our news app,” Ripa continued. “There were so many distractions that didn’t exist then that exist today that I can say I don’t think we would have … We eloped the next day.”
Ripa added, “I mean, that’s how forced together we were into a room with nothing else but each other to look at. And so I think it was that time together where he humbly begged for my forgiveness. And I really accepted his apology.”
Why did Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa break up?
Why were Consuelos and Ripa broken up in the first place? “We both had to meet and do an appearance on Live With Regis and Kathie Lee,” Consuelos said on a previous Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen appearance. “When we were together she wouldn’t talk to me and that made me go crazy. So I followed her in Central Park, and then we went back to my place, and we got married the next day.”
Consuelos added that their time apart wasn’t a “big breakup” and they eloped.
Ripa recalled on the Comments by Celebs podcast that the Live appearance was a Mother’s Day episode. “He popped the question the day before we got married, but that day, that very day that we got back together, we were at a taping of Regis and Kathie Lee,” she said. “It was their Mother’s Day special. They were pre-taping it, and one of the dreams of one of the mothers was to meet Mark and me. We were her favorite characters on All My Children.”
Kelly and Mark brought a gift to a fan on their ‘Live’ appearance
Ripa also recalled how the mood was sweet and their role on the show that day. “She wanted to meet us, and I think we drove out a new car or pushed out a new pool table or something,” Ripa recalled of the fan who attended the show. “She got a present from her kids and we brought it out to her. It all is so connected.”
