Kelly Ripa Shares Secret To Getting Husband Mark Consuelos To Say ‘I Love You’ First

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have been married just shy of 30 years! During the March 6 episode of “The Live with Kelly and Mark,” Ripa shared her secret to getting Consuelos to say “I love you” first while reading an article about how long it takes the average man to fall in love, according to People.

“What I think, is that men generally, and I’m going to speak in great generalizations, love the thrill of the hunt, and I certainly was not going to pursue you,” she said.

“I think that made me interesting to you,” she added.

Consuelos then weighed in, saying: “I do find that early on, whether it be a really serious relationship or early in the marriage, it always feels like someone loves the other person more. It’s like 65/35, or 67/43.”

Ripa then joked that she may love Consuelos “a little bit more.”

“That’s okay. I’m fine with that,” she said. “You don’t seem to know that, so it’s good. It’s all working.”

Kelly Ripa And Mark Consuelos Eloped In 1996

The lovebirds met in 1995 during an “All My Children” screen test before eloping in Las Vegas the following year.

“Two consecutive days off from work, both on the same day. And it was like, ‘Let’s go to Vegas and get married and it’ll be fun,'” Ripa said during an August 16 2022 episode of “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” according to People. “It was ’96 guys, remember the winter of ’96? The winter of ’96 is in the record books as the most miserable, it was an endless winter, and it was a snowstorm when we left. And we looked at the weather because we thought about going to City Hall but that was still cold and miserable, whereas Las Vegas, it was 85 degrees and sunny. ‘Let’s do that!’ And so that’s what we did.”

She continued, “$179 for a wedding, including airfare, cause we had miles and we had a canceled trip or something. But $179 in total — total with everything.”

Kelly Ripa And Mark Consuelos Share Three Children Together

Together, Ripa and Consuelos share three children: 27-year-old Michael, 23-year-old Lola, and 21-year-old Joaquin. They are now empty nesters — something Ripa has been super open about.

“The first dinner I cooked, I’m not kidding, was for 12 people, and it was just the two of us. We sat there with this inordinate amount of food, neither one of us hungry at all,” Ripa told People in 2023.

Eventually, they learned to embrace the quietness, which meant enjoying the beach and going on hikes and even rock-climbing together.

“The first 48 hours we were leaning into the despair and then we really leaned into the positive side,” she added. “We got over it!”