‘Live’ Is ‘Safe Place’ for Kelly Ripa Arguments

The couple that works together, stays together! Mark Consuelos is set to join his wife, Kelly Ripa, at the Live anchor desk full-time — and he doesn’t foresee any marital issues as a result.

“I consider this a safe place. To be honest, sometimes I wait if I have a little something I want to get off my chest, like, ‘You know, this thing I want to talk about,’” the Riverdale alum, 51, quipped during a Friday, February 17, guest appearance on Live With Kelly and Ryan about joining the team. “I’ve done it here when I’ve been a guest host] because I’m safe, what could possibly go happen?”

He continued: “Usually, nine out of 10 times, it’s been resolved here [before we go home]. One time it went bad.”

Ripa, 52, whom Consuelos married in 1996, chimed in to contradict his on-camera claims about their broadcasted arguments. “It’s never resolved, just so you know. It’s all unresolved,” the Live Wire author joked on Friday.

The married couple confirmed during the Thursday, February 16, episode of Live that Consuelos would take over Ryan Seacrest’s hosting duties later this year. The American Idol host, 48, will take a step back from the morning show after nearly six years.

“Working alongside Kelly over the past six years has been a dream job and one of the highlights of my career,” Seacrest said in a statement at the time. “She has been an amazing partner, friend, and confidant, and although we will always be a part of each other’s lives, I will miss our mornings together. … We’ve made memories to last a lifetime, met some of the most incredible people and had the warmest welcome into the homes of so many viewers across America.”

Ripa has cohosted Live since 2001 when she joined longtime host Regis Philbin following Kathie Lee Gifford’s exit. After Philbin — who died in 2020 — announced his retirement in 2011, a rotating panel of cohosts filled in until Seacrest started in 2017.

“This is my favorite show in the morning. When I was in Vancouver [filming Riverdale] and [Kelly and I] were separated when the borders were closed, I got to watch you guys,” Consuelos said on Friday, referring to lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic. “And in Canada, it’s on 15 channels! On the West Coast, you can watch at 6 a.m. [via the] East Coast feed. So, I felt connected. I get to share a cup of coffee with you every morning before the show and now I’ll have one with you on the show, as well.”

He added: “That chair that [Ryan is currently] sitting in is an iconic seat. It’s a great honor for me to sit there. It’s an iconic show and I think it’s going to be a blast.”

The Kingdom alum further revealed he doesn’t have any “second thoughts” about hosting alongside his wife since they are old pros at working together.

“We did this before in much more difficult circumstances. We were together on a soap opera for seven years,” Consuelos — who shares three children with the New Jersey native — added, referring to their early jobs on All My Children. “We were scene partners, we worked 12-hour days, usually an hour-and-a-half commute both ways. We’ve done it, I’m not nervous.”

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Seacrest, for his part, is excited to watch his longtime pals cohost Live together. “You are a brother to me, you are a family member to me,” the radio personality gushed to the Queen of the South alum on Friday. “I couldn’t be happier to see you come in and be next to your wife, who we both know is the most amazing human being on the planet.”