Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are embracing their empty nest.
Five months after the couple revealed their three kids Michael Consuelos, 27, Lola Consuelos, 23, and Joaquin Consuelos, 22, no longer live with them, Kelly shared the new intimate way they’ve adapted to being home alone.
“The first one is a bit of a shock,” the 54-year-old told guest Amanda Peet in the May 26 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark. “The second one is no big deal. Third one, for 24 to 48 hours, you’re gonna be like, ‘Oh my gosh, what have we done? Now it’s just us.’ And then, your entire life becomes nudity in the household wherever you want.”
Mark, 54, agreed with his wife’s revelation and compared their birthday suit activity to “a freakshow.” But despite their kids leaving the coop, the couple still checks in with them all the time—even if they don’t always answer the phone.
I sent my kids, after they graduated, all of these articles on like, ‘The best things people look for when hiring,’” the Riverdale alum continued. “And I’m like, ‘Did you read that article?’ Nobody read it. Nobody reads anything.”
Indeed, Joaquin is the family’s latest scholar, as he graduated from the University of Michigan earlier this month. At the time, the couple and Lola—who completed her studies at New York University in 2023—attended the ceremony together. Meanwhile, their older brother Michael also secured his film degree from NYU in 2020.
As for Kelly and Mark, their children will always have a connection to their New York home. In their home tour with Architectural Digest last December, the couple shared their special art piece dedicated to Michael, Lola and Joaquin: three realistic paintings of their eyes near their bedroom.
“They don’t live here anymore, so when we leave our bedroom, it feels like they’re still with us,” Mark said, to which Kelly added, “I could stare at my kids’ eyes forever, I just think they’re great.”
Keep reading to see more of Kelly and Mark’s NSFW confessions…
Bad Bedroom Behavior
So much for pillow talk. When husband Mark Consuelos joined Kelly Ripa for a February 2017 episode of Live! With Kelly (some six years before he claimed a permanent spot at the desk), she used the opportunity to issue a complaint.
“When there’s special married couple time in our house,” she explained, “he’s immediately mean to me afterwards and I don’t like that. I think it’s bizarre. He becomes short with me, like irritated.”
Though Kelly later insisted it was just a joke, her husband of nearly three decades felt the need to defend himself when he noticed her quip had become a trending news story. “I just wanted to set the record straight that no one can be mean after something if they are unconscious,” he declared on-air days later. “I sleep.”
Echoed his bride, “Maybe that’s what I meant. I didn’t really mean mean. I meant completely disinterested—like sound asleep.”
Perhaps a DM Would Have Been Appropriate?
There’s a reason kids Michael Consuelos, Lola Consuelos and Joaquin Consuelos are forced to tread lightly whenever they take an innocent scroll through social media.
Consider the time Mark revealed he’d be “taking over” the Instagram feed for his series Riverdale during a 2019 episode, prompting Kelly to comment, “Oooooooooooo. Daddy, I love when you take over.”
It’s just one of the reasons why the morning show fixture is pretty confident her children have done their best to erase any sign of them from social media.
“I’m certain they have blocked any channel with any mention of our names,” Kelly told E! News in April 2023. “Just like they block us on social media. They block us any way they can.”
Pants on Fire
Is that your gun or…? When Kelly posted a series of Halloween throwbacks in 2020—including Mark and pal Bruce Bozzi in full CHiPs regalia—her husband had a little something to say about the tight fit of his trousers.
“Full disclosure, I believe that’s definitely a shadow that’s causing that bulging effect,” he commented, causing his wife to reply, “ummmmm baby are you seeing shadows?”
And when Kelly appeared on E!’s Daily Pop days later, she wasn’t afraid to address what her man was packing. After host Justin Sylvester noted that was why they’d been married so long, she responded, “It’s not the only reason. But I would say the top three.”
What a View
Not that she’s griping, but the Halloween photo frenzy caused Kelly to get in the habit of doing a full-body scan before sharing any family memories.
When Justin Sylvester commented on Instagram that Kelly had been very deliberate with the images she’d shared from a November 2020 tropical getaway, the morning host cheekily replied, “You have no idea how carefully. And how limiting it all is (I’m not complaining).”
Taking Care of Business
The secret to their ever-lasting marriage after almost 30 years and three kids? “Love and sexy time,” Kelly said during a 2021 episode of Live!
The couple’s intimate way of dealing with stress came up when Mark was filling in as a guest co-host and he and Kelly were discussing the show Scenes From a Marriage.
“I was like, none of this would ever be happening in the Mark Consuelos household, because he would have nipped all of this in the bud immediately,” Kelly said of the marital turmoil they watched. “He would have been like, ‘Oh, you’re upset? I know how to take care of that. Oh, you don’t feel good about something? I’ll take care of that. Oh, you’re feeling like maybe you’re overworked? I got you. I know what you need.'”
She continued, “Because everything for Mark is settled with—” before Mark interjected, “Love.”
Kelly added, “Love and sexy time.” Mark said, “Not everything. Not everything!” But she confirmed, “Just about almost everything.”
Morning Glory
As long as he doesn’t expect her to get up and, you know, at ’em. While Mark is unabashedly a morning person when it comes to sex, “I find it disgusting,” Kelly admitted during a July 2025 appearance on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast.
So when it comes to their bedroom activity, she drives a hard bargain. “I said to him, ‘Here’s the thing,'” Kelly explained. “‘There needs to be a yin and a yang here. It can’t always be your way. It feels like 90 percent of the time it’s your way, and now that we work together every day, it’s gonna have to sometimes be my way. And my way’s at night only.'”
Fortunately for her, their early a.m. hosting gig usually takes care of that problem. “The greatest thing about this job,” she said of Live, “this thing has almost repulsed him from morning time during the work week—which is like a miracle.”
A Slip of the Tongue
Mark used some, uh, colorful language when Kelly posted a photo of herself in a rainbow-hued sequin sweatshirt. Commenting on the “More Glitter, Less Twitter” messaging on her top, the actor asked, “Baby, is that a G or a C..asking for a friend.”
Ah, Memories
Mooooooom! Apparently celebrating youngest son Joaquin’s 18th birthday brought to mind memories of being in her birthday suit. Because when Mark posted an Instagram tribute in February 2021, writing, “Our little guy is all grown up,” Kelly commented, “You know what? Making him was so much fun.”
And apparently quite the international experience, with Mark noting he was, uh, “made” during a trip to Montreal.
Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby
When Andy Cohen tasked his good pal with playing a game called “Have You Schtupped There?” on a September 2022 episode of Watch What Happens Live, the answer was unequivocally yes.
Public bathroom? Check. On set during their All My Children days? Mm-hmm. When they were on a boat? Uh-huh. As Cohen cracked, “You used to go to the bay in front of my house and schtup on that boat of yours.”
But while he surmised, “based on your Instagram PDA alone, it’s hard to imagine a place you and Mark haven’t done the deed,” there are a few spots that remain unchristened. Kelly confirmed they hadn’t (yet) gotten busy in a car on the way to an event, in a department store dressing room or on the set of their daytime talk show.
Logging Some Face Time
Kelly’s favorite position? The one that puts her good side on display. At the height of the pandemic, when she was based in NYC for her show and he was shooting Riverdale in Vancouver, “We had sexual rituals that were so ludicrous,” she recalled on a March 2023 episode of her Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast.
And also quite crafty. “I became so alarmed at my appearance over FaceTime,” she noted, “that I started hanging the computer on a ladder, so that I could look up to Mark [and] he did not have to see what gravity was actually doing.”
Lock It Up
Apparently Kelly isn’t the type to mix business with pleasure. While commenting on the romance that spelled the end of Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes‘ stints as co-hosts on ABC’s GMA3, Kelly joked that she and Mark were following network protocol now that he’s joined her behind the Live desk.
She and Mark “have taken a vow of chastity while we’ll be working together,” Kelly shared on Watch What Happens Live in April 2023. “Because I know how ABC does not like that, you know, TV partners banging on the side,” she added. “So, we promise, no banging on the side.”
I Think We’re Alone Now
Once youngest Joaquin was off to college in 2021, the married duo got used to feathering an empty nest. “Mark and I had gotten into our habits of just sort of wandering around as we please, you know, leaving the doors open as we please,” Kelly told E! News in June 2023. “And then, lo and behold, Lola comes back from London and now we’ve gotta lock it up again. Joaquin came home for his summer break, and we had to lock it up again.”
And when her parents moved into their New York pad for a stretch, the lack of privacy forced them to get a bit more creative. “You have no idea,” she cracked, “the lengths that we go to.”
“Freak Week”Deets
When Lola moved back in with her parent for her last semester of college, she got into the habit of walking into their bedroom without knocking—a practice they were desperate to break.
So, in pure Mark fashion, he teased their daughter on what to expect when she enters their room unannounced from now on.
“Be warned Lola Conseulos. ‘Cause this week’s freaky week, isn’t it?” Mark quipped during a January 2023 episode of Live. To which Kelly replied with a laugh, “Why this week? Is this historically freaky week?” Mark noted with a smile, “It is now.”
As for what led to the NSFW warning? Mark and Kelly explained during the episode that after Lola kept opening their bedroom door without giving warning, Mark had a chat with her.
“I said, ‘Lola, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way,'” he explained. “‘I’m very excited that you are home. We missed you. You are the heart of this family. You’re so funny and you’re just fantastic. But you gotta knock.'”
