Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos do, in fact, have a secret to a lasting marriage after all: avoiding a vow renewal.
On Thursday’s episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, the married pair and co-hosts revealed they have no intention of renewing their vows, even after over 25 years of marriage.
“We are very superstitious about vow renewals,” Ripa, 52, said, hinting that thy are the “kiss of death” and should come with “divorce papers.”
“I just feel like a vow renewal is a pre-divorce,” she added. “It’s like, ‘We’re not getting along… I know what we should do!’ ”
Consuelo, 52, agreed — and said he thinks the decision to wed again usually comes after the husband “messed up” in the marriage. “And I’m not talking about ‘leaved the toilet seat up,’ he said. “I’m talking about messed up!”
Still, executive producer Michael Gelman couldn’t help but tease them, asking the Live duo if they could stage a vow renewal for them on TV. “Noooooo,” the couple said, in astounding and elongated unison.
Ripa and Consuelos have been married for 27 years, having tied the knot on May 1, 1996.
The pair met when starring on All My Children together, where they played lovebirds Hayley and Mateo. Love blossomed off-screen as well, and the two eloped in Vegas not long after.
“I’m a very practical person, but there was something about him,” Ripa told PEOPLE back in April, reflecting on the moment when the casting director for All My Children showed her a photo of Consuelos in 1994 — then a budding 24-year-old actor up for a role opposite Ripa, already one of the soap’s breakout stars. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s my person. This is my husband. My future hubs.’ I just knew it.”
Over the span of 28 years, the couple established successful individual careers and nurtured a family, made up of sons Michael, 26, and Joaquin, 20, as well as daughter Lola, 21. In April, the two joined forces to official co-host Live with Kelly and Mark after Ryan Seacrest’s departure from the ABC syndicated daytime series he hosted alongside Ripa for six seasons.
Since then, the Ripa and Consuelos have started their mornings by getting candid on national TV about the realities of their marriage.
Thursday’s show also found the couple looking back on their Vegas wedding, which took place at the Chapel of the Bells. They’ve long praised their decision to get eloped, saying that marriages at the famed institution “stick.”
“We’ve met other couples who have gotten married there who have also been married for thousands of years,’ Ripa said. “That place is special.”
“They didn’t even know our names!” Consuelos teased, recalling how the officiant told them ‘Bride, do you take groom?’ Groom, do you take [bride]?’ ”
He went on to laugh at how they were told that day that, “Marriage is not to be entered into lightly” as they stood at the podium. “I was looking around the room — and we’re in Vegas, and it looks like Vegas — and I was like, ‘This is pretty light.’ “
Live with Kelly and Ryan airs weekdays in syndication (check local listings).
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