Kelly Ripa is only 56, but she’s already thinking about her death. And her husband won’t be involved in her funeral. The LIVE host revealed plans to ban Mark Consuelos from part of the service. Keep reading for all the details.
LIVE Host Kelly Ripa Bans Mark Consuelos From Part Of Her Funeral
Kelly Ripa has lived a full life. She spent over a decade playing Hayley Vaughan on All My Children. The soap opera is where she met her future husband. Mark Consuelos was cast as Hayley’s love interest, Mateo Santos. The actors fell in love off-camera. They eloped to Las Vegas in 1996 and eventually welcomed three children.
Kelly Ripa was a surprising choice to replace Kathie Lee Gifford on LIVE! With Regis in 2001. However, she flourished as a talk show host and took over as main host when Regis Philbin retired in 2011. She had several co-hosts over the years. Mark Consuelos seamlessly stepped into the role in 2023 after Ryan Seacrest left.
Kelly Ripa has teased the idea of retiring at some point. While she doesn’t have any official plans for her retirement, she has her funeral all mapped out. The topic came up on LIVE when the hosts discussed the story of a woman who held her own funeral while she was still alive. Kelly Ripa revealed to her surprised husband that she already had her funeral planned and he was banned from one part of it.
Mark Consuelos Shares Sweet Birthday Tribute Amid Backlash
In fact, Kelly Ripa named the show’s producer, Michael Gelman, in charge of the service. “It’s going to be a destination,” she shared. Mark Consuelos asked if he was at least in charge of dressing his wife for the funeral. Kelly Ripa said absolutely not.
“No! If Gelman is throwing my funeral, my stylist is getting me dressed,” she said. Kelly Ripa reminded her husband that they already agreed that he was banned from ever dressing her again. She told the audience about a time he rushed her to the hospital while she was unconscious.
“Let me just say, I sailed in right past the gunshot victims because I looked so bad,” the LIVE host joked. Mark Consuelos had dressed her in “a green leotard, soccer pants, and high-heeled shoes” to go to the ER, Page Six reported.
Kelly Ripa didn’t completely ban her husband from her funeral. She plans to “put everybody in charge of what they’re typically in charge of.” She revealed his role was to “eulogize, say nice things.”
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are still madly in love three decades after their wedding. He celebrated her birthday earlier this month with an odd on-air tribute. However, he fixed his mistake by sharing a sweet tribute on social media.
“Happy birthday sexy!!” he wrote on a post that included a video of Kelly Ripa from childhood through their early dating days, motherhood, and now.
Mark Consuelos will obviously play a huge role in Kelly Ripa’s funeral, but do you blame her for banning him from dressing her after the ER visit attire?
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger