6 days ago
Mark Consuelos details the stark realities of a Kelly Ripa break up
Mark Consuelos has dared to think about what his life would look like if he were to ever split from wife Kelly Ripa – and spoiler alert, he wouldn't cope well.
The television presenter has been married to his on-screen co-host Kelly, both 54, for almost three decades, but during Thursday's episode of their talk show they took a second to consider what would happen if they divorced.
The moment of contemplation occurred as Kelly referred to a study that found that men 'placed more importance on romance' than women.
She explained that men 'experience greater mental and physical health benefits from being in a relationship' and 'struggle more with the emotional toll of a breakup.'
'I know if you and I broke up, you would absolutely fall apart, completely,' Kelly then added.
Mark agreed and responded: 'That's true.'
After prompting a sympathetic coo from the audience, Mark then revealed how he would really cope if his marriage ever did crumble.
'But I do feel like someone would be there on the other end just to pick me up and make sure I'm okay. Pretty sure,' he said.
'I'd have to get used to their college schedule and all that stuff.'
Kelly was amused by Mark's remarks and let out a laugh before adding: 'Oh my God. Oh, dear God, I hope I live to see your second wife!'
Kelly and Mark, who wed in 1996, have three children together and their youngest, Joaquin Consuelos, 22, graduated from the University of Michigan this year.
The couple also have son Michael Consuelos, 27, who graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 2020, and daughter Lola Consuelos, 23, who is also a NYU graduate.
They previously revealed how difficult the adjustment was of having their children leave home.
'We became empty nesters. We took our youngest son to college, we dropped him off,' Kelly said on a 2021 episode of her talk show. 'It was hard. It was really hard.'
In a joint 2023 interview with People, Mark compared the feeling to 'a loss.'
'It was deep,' he said. 'It was like a loss.'
'When Joaquin left [for the University of Michigan], it was hard, the two of us and the dogs staring at each other, like "Well, now what?"' Kelly said.
'The first dinner I cooked, I'm not kidding, was for 12 people, and it was just the two of us. We sat there with this inordinate amount of food, neither one of us hungry at all,' she said.
Kelly initially worried they wouldn't have enough to talk about.
'We're empty nesters, oh no, what are we going to discuss?!' Kelly said of her initial thoughts.
But the pain quickly faded: 'The first 48 hours we were leaning into the despair and then we really leaned into the positive side,' she added. 'We got over it!'
