While tiny irritations like Mark Consuelos‘ aggressive chewing may fill Kelly Ripa with “rage,” she always put the small stuff aside to focus on what really matters. And ahead of Father’s Day, Ripa revealed that she always knew her husband would make a great dad — and she sweetly explained why on this morning’s episode of Live with Kelly and Mark.
The couple, who recently celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary, was discussing this weekend’s Father’s Day, in which Ripa said she “hopes” their three children celebrate her husband the way he deserves.
“Not to pat myself on the back, but I knew it when I met you that you would make a good father,” she said. “I could just feel it. I’m not wrong about these things.”
Ripa and Consuelos met in their mid-20s on the set of All My Children in 1995, before tying the knot in 1996 and welcoming their firstborn in 1997 — and they’ve been going strong ever since!
“You seemed like an adult even though you were a kid when we met — but you seemed very much like an adult,” Ripa explained. “You seemed very practical. You seemed pragmatic, empathic, all of the things.”
She continued, “You cared about your family. You cared about your parents. You cared about your brother and sister. And you just seemed like somebody that would be a long-haul person.”
When Consuelos asked if those are traits women look for when they’re gauging out a life partner, Ripa told slyly him that there are also “other characteristics” that she looked for, but “none” that she’ll “discuss here today.”
“You just checked all the boxes. So I hope you get rewarded,” she said, to which Consuelos seductively replied, “Oh, I’m sure I will.”
Hopefully, these love birds avoid a repeat of Father’s Day 2019, when their daughter Lola — who is celebrating her 22nd birthday today — accidentally walked in on them doing the deed. They recalled the awkward moment to the audience during a previous episode of Live when Consuelos was filling in for former co-host Ryan Seacrest.
“[Lola] shuts the door and you hear, ‘You just ruined my birthday! And my life! And I used to see in color and now everything is gray,'” Ripa said at the time, before later adding, “Nobody knocks in our house!”
Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays at 9/8c on ABC.