Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos say they didn’t want to cohost Live together: ‘This is insane’

“The answer was no,” Consuelos said on Ripa’s “Let’s Talk Off Camera” podcast.

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos seemingly have a healthy working (and personal) relationship on Live With Kelly and Mark, but the celebrity couple recently revealed that they initially resisted the thought of cohosting the morning talk show together following Ryan Seacrest’s exit in early 2023.

“So, when they asked me, we both said, ‘No, this is insane. We can’t do this,'” Consuelos told Ripa on Wednesday’s episode of her Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his time as a permanent host. “I’m like, ‘No, you know, no.’ The answer was no, but we’ll talk about it, but just kind of try to get them off our back a little bit.”

Consuelos said that one of the “key deciding factors” was an uptick in his acting schedule — including a significant role on Riverdale — at the time, which had him “in different countries” and “on a damn airplane every week.” That, he recalled, pulled him away from Ripa — enough so that he’d fly home to see her for a single day before getting back to work.

“I was kind of tired of living by myself. I don’t sleep well when I’m away from you. I literally don’t sleep,” he said, admitting that the thought of seeing his wife every day on set is what helped convince him to board the show full-time.

“You made a pros and cons list,” Ripa added. Consuelos replied: “The cons were stuff that just wasn’t gonna happen. I know one of the cons, you said, ‘Well, what if you never get to act again?’ and I said, ‘I know me and you can’t tell me I’m never gonna do anything again.'”

Consuelos has been able to balance both being a talk show host and a working actor, as the 53-year-old currently has a recurring role on Max’s new series The Girls on the Bus as a presidential candidate chronicled by a group of reporters.

His marriage to Ripa is also going strong, as they returned to the Las Vegas chapel where they married in 1996 to help officiate a new couple’s ceremony in February. They also regularly chronicle their experiences together, including a hilarious story about neighbors filing a noise complaint against them and witnessing an unnamed celebrity flip out on hotel staff when they were on vacation.

Live With Kelly and Mark airs weekdays in syndication. Check your local listings for showtimes in your area. Listen to Let’s Talk Off Camera above.