Kelly RipaandMark Consueloshad undeniable chemistry playing onscreen sweethearts onAll My Childrenfrom 1996 to 2001. But the real electric connection happened off camera as the two young actors fell hard and fast beforeeloping in Las Vegas20 months after they met.
So who was the first to say “I love you”? That would be Mark, Kelly tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.
“It was a date night,” recalls Mark. “We were on a double date, in our early 20s.““He looked at me and said, ‘Would you like another glass of champagne? I love you,'” says Kelly, seemingly perplexed that he’d opted to open his heart while out with another couple. “That’s what he said, and I thought he had lost his mind…. I said, ‘What did you just say?’ It was a scene out ofMelrose Place, it really was.”
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos.Miller Mobley
Of course, Kelly would reciprocate the sentiment, and over the last 28 years the pair have built a family — they share kidsMichael, 25,Lola, 21, andJoaquin, 20 — and thriving individual careers. And now, Mark, 52, and Kelly, 52, are looking forward to their most meaningful work collaboration yet when theRiverdalealum joins his wife as co-host of the newly titledLive with Kelly and Markon April 17.
“To have Mark join me at that desk every day, it’s a dream come true,” says Kelly, who has helped makeLivethe No. 1-rated daytime talk show over her 22-year tenure. “We’ve been so uniquely blessed.”
As for Mark, who says he feels “super, super grateful” for the opportunity to work alongside Kelly on the irreverent ABC morning show, he acknowledges he’s apt to take the lead in other “firsts” when it comes to their relationship.
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos.David M. Russell/Walt Disney/ABC
In addition to using the “L” word first nearly three decades ago, he says he made the “first move” back then — and now. “I’m still making the first moves!” he says.
Case in point: when they traveled to Los Angeles over Oscars weekend, Kelly arranged a surprise. “We got to the hotel room and she had a beautiful box of my favorite cigars,” Mark says.
“Every time we come [to L.A.], we stay at the same hotel in the same room, and he always has a beautiful arrangement of gardenias for me in the room,” says Kelly. “This time I was like ‘I should have something nice forhim.'”
Miller Mobley
For more of the exclusive insights fromKelly Ripaand Mark Consuelos, pick up this week’s PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday!
source: people.com
