People.com Entertainment TV Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' Relationship Timeline Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos first met in 1995 at his audition for All My Children By Robin Raven Robin Raven Contributor, PEOPLE People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 6, 2022 09:48 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have one of the sweetest meet-cutes in all of Hollywood. The couple first met in 1995 when Consuelos filmed a screen test with Ripa for All My Children. Their chemistry was instant, and after Consuelos was hired to play Ripa's love interest on the daytime drama, their relationship turned romantic. Less than a year into their romance, they eloped in Las Vegas in 1996, and have since welcomed three children together. Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos Celebrate Their 26th Anniversary: 'Love of My Life' "We're very lucky that we found each other, that's what I have to say," Ripa told AOL in a 2015 interview. "I would say to Mark, 'Who would we have married if not each other?' " From their costarring soap opera days to their sweet social media tributes, here's everything you need to know about Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' relationship. 1995: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos meet at his audition for All My Children Ann Limongello/ABC While Ripa first met her future husband at his audition for All My Children, the actress had already been impressed by a photograph of Consuelos. The show was looking for an actor to cast as the love interest for Ripa's character Hayley Vaughan, and when the casting director showed her Consuelos' picture, Ripa had a premonition. "When I saw him, the photograph of him, I saw my entire future with him flash before [my eyes] — like I saw it," she revealed in 2018 on "Lunch with Bruce." "And I don't believe in any of that and now I do because of that moment." However, Consuelos had no idea he even had a chance with Ripa after their steamy screen test. "I thought she was adorable, hot and sexy and all that stuff, but I was very focused — I didn't really think I had a chance with her, so I wasn't really focused on that," he told HuffPost Live. Consuelos' focus paid off, and he was cast as Mateo Santos on the show. The pair started dating shortly after. February 1996: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos make their public debut as a couple Barry King/Liaison/Getty Consuelos and Ripa tried to keep their romance quiet in the beginning to avoid any professional conflicts. "People tend to think there'll be problems when you're dating your costar," Consuelos later shared. After a few months of dating, however, the couple finally made their public debut on the red carpet at the Soap Opera Digest Awards. April 1996: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos briefly split up Less than a year into their relationship, the couple briefly broke up. But as Ripa later pointed out, their separation didn't last long. In fact, they got married the very next week. "Right before we got married, we broke up," she shared on an episode of the Comments by Celebs podcast. "We broke up and we got back together the day before we went off and eloped. Yeah, we eloped. We went to Vegas and got married." May 1, 1996: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos elope in Las Vegas After they reconciled from their brief split, Consuelos proposed by asking Ripa: "Since we don't have to work tomorrow, why don't we fly to Vegas and get married?" The pair jetted off to Las Vegas the next day and tied the knot at the Chapel of the Bells. May 1996: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos go to Rome and Capri for their honeymoon Donna Svennevik/Walt Disney Television via Getty For their honeymoon, the newlyweds headed to Italy, where they took in the sights in Rome and Capri. As Consuelos later told Soap Opera Digest, "She deserved a beautiful place to go, and I couldn't think of a more beautiful place than Italy." June 2, 1997: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos welcome their first child together Kelly Ripa/Instagram Just over a year after Ripa and Consuelos wed in Las Vegas, Ripa gave birth to their first child, Michael Joseph. The pair chose their All My Children costar Eva LaRue to be Michael's godmother. June 2000: Ripa and Consuelos' characters tie the knot on All My Children Ripa and Consuelos got to relive their big day in June 2000 when their characters Hayley and Mateo got married on All My Children. "I think [Kelly] might get a little nostalgic or maybe regret the fact that she didn't get to have that big wedding," Consuelos later said of the couple's elopement. "But I quickly point out to her that we had a number of weddings." February 2001: Kelly Ripa joins Live! With Regis and Kelly with the support of Mark Consuelos In early 2001, Ripa embarked on a new career journey when she took over Kathie Lee Gifford's co-hosting gig alongside Regis Philbin for the daytime talk show. Years later, Ripa revealed that while she was initially hesitant to accept the job, Consuelos persuaded her. "I wanted to raise my kids. I didn't want to have them and never get to see them," she said in 2021, adding that Consuelos "made sacrifices" so that Ripa could be more hands-on with their children's day-to-day activities. June 16, 2001: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos welcome daughter Lola to the family Kelly Ripa/Instagram Ripa and Consuelos welcomed their second child, daughter Lola Grace, to the family shortly after she joined Live!. The couple had originally planned to name their new arrival Sophie, but on their ride to the hospital, the taxi driver was playing "Copacabana" by Barry Manilow. Kelly Ripa Shares Throwback Pics of Her, Mark Consuelos, Son Michael and Daughter Lola: 'Babies' "I heard that [lyric], when he said, 'Her name was Lola,' and I said to Mark, 'Lola Consuelos would be a really cool name.' And he said, 'If she's a girl, let's name her Lola.' And that was it," Ripa later explained on her show. February 24, 2003: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos welcome their third child Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Ripa and Consuelos welcomed their son Joaquin Antonio on Feb. 24, 2003. They shared the happy news on Live! With Regis and Kelly, with Ripa calling her co-host Philbin from her hospital bed while he was taping the show. Kelly Ripa Reflects on Motherhood as Her Youngest Son Turns 19: 'You Blink and They're Gone' 2007: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos start their own production company In 2007, the couple became business partners when they launched their production company Milojo, which is a combination of the first two letters of each of their children's names. January 2010: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos return to All My Children In honor of the soap opera's 40th anniversary, Ripa and Consuelos reprised their roles for a two-episode arc on All My Children. April 2016: Mark Consuelos supports Kelly Ripa through Michael Strahan's departure from Live! In April 2016, Ripa's co-host Michael Strahan announced his departure from the daytime talk show. At the time, a source told PEOPLE that Ripa felt "betrayed and so hurt" after she was blindsided by the news. However, as she later revealed on the cover of PEOPLE, Ripa's husband helped her gain some perspective. "Mark is such a smart guy and is always in the face of business very dispassionate," she said of Consuelos. "He looks at it like a business decision, and he says to me, 'There's nobody better at this than you,' spoken like a supportive spouse." April 2016: Kelly Ripa wears her wedding dress for her and Mark Consuelos' 20th wedding anniversary Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa. Courtesy Kelly Ripa Shortly after Strahan's announcement, the couple jetted off with their children to Turks and Caicos for a pre-planned 20th wedding anniversary celebration. As a source told PEOPLE at the time, the trip was just the distraction Ripa needed after the bombshell news. "It's fortuitous that she had this trip planned with her husband," the insider revealed. However, as Ripa revealed on Live! after returning home, there were plenty of high notes to celebrate from the trip despite its initial turbulence. She shared photos from the getaway with Strahan and the audience, including one sweet snap of Ripa posing with Consuelos in a long white dress — which she revealed was actually her wedding gown! Ripa explained that while she married Consuelos 20 years ago, she'd actually owned the dress for 25 years. "I didn't buy it as a wedding dress. I just bought it because it was really pretty, and I wanted to buy something from the Barney's Warehouse sale," Ripa shared, before calling the purchase "the best $199 I ever spent in my life." January 30, 2019: Kelly Ripa plays Mark Consuelos' mistress on Riverdale Ripa and Consuelos got the chance to relive their costarring days when she guest-starred on his show Riverdale in 2019. While Ripa originally played Consuelos' wife on All My Children, she took on the role of mistress to his character Hiram Lodge for her Riverdale debut. The actress announced her guest appearance on Instagram with a photo from set. "It's a family affair … Hiram's mistress. 23 years of auditioning for a role I was born to play," she captioned the post. Consuelos also spoke to PEOPLE ahead of the episode's premiere about having his wife on set. "It was so much fun," he shared. "We got to spend the weekend up in Vancouver [where Riverdale is filmed] and we had a nice little weekend there." June 16, 2019: Kelly Ripa shares that her daughter walked in during an intimate moment with Mark Consuelos Live with Kelly and Ryan Consuelos has served as Ripa's co-host on Live! plenty of times over the years, but during an especially memorable appearance in 2019, the couple recounted the story of when their daughter Lola walked in on them having sex. "We started her day off pretty bad yesterday; it happened again," Consuelos revealed, noting that it was actually Lola's 18th birthday when the embarrassing encounter took place. "She knocked on our door — our bedroom door." "She shuts the door and you hear, 'You just ruined my birthday! And my life! And I used to see in color and now everything is gray,' " Ripa told the audience. February 2020: Mark Consuelos surprises Kelly Ripa with flowers for the anniversary of the day they met On the 26th anniversary of the day they met, Consuelos surprised Ripa by showing up at her gym with flowers. However, Ripa didn't immediately recognize her husband, and walked past him on her way out. "I have my ear pods in and I hear, 'Hey sexy.' And it's so funny, it never occurs to me that this person is talking to me," she shared on Live with Kelly and Ryan, adding that she thought she was about to be mugged. "So I look up and my husband is there. And he was talking to me, it turns out!" February 9, 2020: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos attend the Academy Awards Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. Amy Sussman/Getty Ripa and Consuelos attended the Academy Awards together on Feb. 9, 2020, and were joined by Ripa's other "husband" — her Live with Kelly and Ryan co-host, Ryan Seacrest. On the red carpet, Ripa joked that the two men should keep their distance from her. "I'm wearing full-body makeup and I don't want to get it on you and you, my two husbands," she told Consuelos and Seacrest. September 30, 2020: Kelly Ripa reveals Mark Consuelos' "superpower" Ahead of her 50th birthday, Ripa told ET Canada that her husband's "superpower" is his ability to treat his spouse "like the only person in the world." "We've been together a long time, but all Mark has to do is look at me [and I] feel so special, so pretty and so young," she said. "He's got the best smile I've ever seen, so when he smiles it's like the sun's shining on you." April 2021: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos discuss the dynamics of their long relationship On an episode of the Double Date podcast, Ripa and Consuelos opened up about their "traditional" marriage. Ripa revealed that while the pair considers themselves "progressive people," they are "almost old-fashioned" when it comes to their relationship. "She makes the home a home," Consuelos added of his wife. September 21, 2021: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos reveal the secret to their marriage kelly ripa/ instagram During an episode of Live With Kelly and Ryan, Ripa and Consuelos shared some of their tips for a happy marriage. Ripa revealed that when it comes to resolving issues, her husband always puts her needs first. And while Consuelos added that "love" is the key to settling any marital disputes, Ripa had a slightly different answer: "Love and sexy time." February 14, 2022: Kelly Ripa says that she and Mark Consuelos don't celebrate Valentine's Day Despite their long-time romance, Ripa revealed on her show that she and Consuelos opt out of celebrating the romantic holiday. When her co-host Seacrest asked about the couple's big plans for Valentine's Day, Ripa responded, "Nothing. Literally nothing. We've been together for almost 30 years so we've done everything a person could possibly do." May 1, 2022: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos mark their 26th wedding anniversary In honor of their 26th wedding anniversary, Ripa and Consuelos dedicated sweet social media tributes to each other. Ripa posted a throwback photo of the couple with the caption, "26 years with the love of my life!" Consuelos also shared an adorable snap of him and Ripa, along with a sketch of two penguins holding hands under the words "mate for life." "Happy anniversary! 26 years. Penguin status," he wrote.