‘Proud’ Kelly Ripa praises Mark Consuelos’ first week on ‘Live’ amid mixed reviews
Kelly Ripa is beaming over her how her husband, Mark Consuelos, did on his first week of co-hosting “Live with Kelly and Mark.”
“I had no concerns about how well he was going to do, and he really proved me right,” the “Live Wire” author, 52, told Us Weekly Friday. “I’m so proud of him, but I was never worried.”
Consuelos also gave himself a pat on the back following his debut Monday.
“This show today truly felt like home,” he previously told Us Weekly.
“I always feel at home with Kelly, but [working] together this morning just felt so right.”
The “Riverdale” actor, also 52, added that he and Ripa “always” feel at “ease” when they are together and he feels “lucky we get to do that daily.”
Consuelos was named as Ryan Seacrest’s official replacement in February, at the same time it was announced that the latter would be departing the show after six years.
“This is something that [Kelly] and I have been talking about for a long time, and it was a tough, tough decision. Last year we spoke, and I made the decision to make this my last season as co-host,” Seacrest, 48, told viewers during an episode of “Live.”
The “American Idol” host vowed to return to the talk show “to guest host and fill in.”
Ripa then said during that same broadcast about Consuelos coming on board, “The only person I can think of that is capable of holding [Ryan’s] torch the way [he has] held it would be my husband, Mark Consuelos, in what Ryan and I are calling the nation’s weirdest social experiment.”
Page Six exclusively reported that ABC had been trying to woo Consuelos for some time.
Insiders previously told us that execs approached the former “All My Children” star last summer about the role, with the expectation that Seacrest would leave.
Despite all of the support on stage and behind the scenes, viewers have had mixed feelings about Ripa and Consuelos’ on-air paring.
After the married couple’s first show together, some called them out for their “fake banter,” while others said they “love them together.”
They have also been criticized for their on-air PDA and having a short filming week — the latter of which we’ve been told is standard, as the schedule fluctuates to accommodate the hosts’ other projects.
Consuelos said in another interview this week that he is open to working through what is — and isn’t — hitting well with audiences as time goes on.
The former soap star said on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show with Julia Cunningham” Wednesday, “If it’s great, great. If it’s not so great, we’ll try better next time. And that’s been my approach. Just kind of be in the moment.”
