Mark Consuelos may be a smoke show — but that doesn’t mean he’s easy. In response to executive producer Michael Gelman’s failed attempt at getting Consuelos to take off his shirt, the Live with Kelly and Mark host revealed just how long it took for Riverdale producers to convince him to do the same.
On yesterday’s episode of the hit daytime talk show, Kelly Ripa and Consuelos discussed the benefits of eating oranges in the shower. While Ripa had already filmed herself doing the trend for a past Live segment, Gelman persuaded Consuelos to take a video of himself testing it out as well.
When he played the clip on this morning’s episode, it wasn’t exactly what the EP had in mind. Instead of giving audiences a glance at some dripping wet abs, Consuelos — who was out of view — took a video of his marble shower and a heap of fruit sitting on the ledge, leaving Ripa to tell him he “misunderstood the assignment.”
“First of all, food in the bathroom: I don’t eat food in the bathroom … it’s unhygienic as far as I’m concerned,” Consuelos said. “Also, I was thinking. Gelman, you tried to get me with my shirt off on the show already.”
Gelman — who told the co-host it’s “about time” he starts flashing his abs more — shamelessly admitted to his “obvious” goal.
“No, you gotta take this girl out a few times. You gotta buy me dinner first,” Consuelos joked, while Ripa added, “He’s not easy like that.”
Consuelos, who starred on Riverdale from 2017 to 2022 as the show’s main antagonist Hiram Lodge, later revealed that it took producers on the teen drama “a year-and-a-half” to “get [his] shirt off.”
“Season 2 — I wore a suit and I was thinking, ‘Don’t they know what’s happening under here? They could be using this,'” he said. “I was almost a little offended, but I thought, ‘No, I’m not gonna say anything.’”
Consuelos continued, “But then once I took it off, that was it,” before Ripa chimed in, “Then you were naked the whole time.”
It looks like he wasn’t kidding when he said he’ll only strip down “maybe twice a year” on the talk show. On a recent episode of Live, Consuelos — who had just done a shirtless cold plunge on air — disappointed millions as he feared too much shirtless time “might get a little mundane.”
Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. You can find local listings on their website.