Many know Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos as a devoted, longtime couple, but they weren’t always together, and Consuelos recently revealed the sultry look that first got him falling for his now-wife.
On the newest episode of the podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, released on Feb. 12, Consuelos shared his side of the story, recounting the first time he got to know Ripa.
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Consuelos noted that the two first met while he was auditioning for All My Children, with Ripa already a star on the popular soap opera, saying, “I knew I wanted to get this job because it would change my life.”
He recalled being attracted to Ripa from the start and finding her “hilarious” and “adorable,” but he was focused on one goal: “You have to understand my position there. I came from Tampa on an audition that, my agent said, you’re not ever going to get. The thought of me making the moves on anybody was absolutely out of the question. The whole thing was absolutely mind-boggling to me.”
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Consuelos then described how romance first sparked with Ripa after he booked the role and they practiced lines together in one of their dressing rooms.
“I remember we were running lines…and she had these great shoes on, these heels with these crazy tight but not too tight jeans,” he described the outfit from memory.
He added, talking directly to Ripa, “You were holding a cup of coffee and smoking a cigarette like out of a Parisian editorial page. She smoked a cigarette like someone who’s been in Paris all their lives. She looked like this French vixen.”
Consuelos’ praise continued, with the actor seemingly in awe of Ripa’s beauty, saying, “I was like, ‘Wow, she’s got really beautiful eyes.’ Her cheekbones are very specific, her hair is amazing, but her eyes and lips were, I was like, ‘Wow, she’s got great lips.'”
The celebrity couple—who also played a couple on screen in All My Children—quickly fell in love, meeting in 1995, eloping in Las Vegas in 1996, and remaining married to this day.
Next: Kelly Ripa Teases Husband Mark Consuelos Over His “Filthy” Video Preferences
