Kelly Ripa reveals Mark Consuelos used to be ‘insanely jealous,’ which made marriage ‘very hard’

Kelly Ripa is getting candid about how Mark Consuelos’ intense jealousy put a strain on their marriage.

In an advance clip from the podcast “Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa,” published by Entertainment Tonight Tuesday, the talk show host called out the actor, her husband since 1996, for being “insanely jealous” in the beginning of their marriage.

“That was a hard pill to swallow,” Ripa said. “It’s very hard being married to somebody who is jealous.”

Ripa, 52, then recalled an incident during the first week of their marriage when Consuelos, 51, became irate after a friendly, elderly waiter at an Italian restaurant called Ripa a princess.

“I thought it was so cute that this little old man called me a princess, and I looked at him, and I gave him my order in a very smiley way, and he walked away, and you picked a horrible fight,” she said.

Consuelos owned up to Ripa’s description of his past behavior, saying he’s done a lot of work since to fix this “character flaw.”

“I remember that,” he said of the waiter incident. “Look, at age 25, I was pretty insane, but that jealousy thing definitely followed me for a while. I’m not jealous anymore.”

He continued: “It’s a character flaw. It’s ugly. As ugly as it feels to the person who has to be on the receiving end of it, it’s such an ugly feeling inside, because, if this is any consolation, you know you’re being crazy. The jealous person knows that this is wrong and it’s ugly, but they can’t help it.”

Ripa said she’s “so grateful” Consuelos has overcome his jealousy.

Ripa and Consuelos share three kids: daughter Lola, 21; son Michael, 25; and son Joaquin, 20.