Kelly Ripa ‘Permanently’ Welcomes Mark Consuelos On ‘Live’ ‘Until One Of Us Dies’, Says ‘It’s One Of The Weirdest Social Experiments’

etcanada.com:

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, together at last. On Monday, the first episode of the newly christened “Live with Kelly and Mark” aired, with Consuelos officially replacing Ryan Seacrest as the morning show’s new co-host. READ MORE: Kelly Ripa Says She And Mark Consuelos Are ‘Taking A Vow Of Chastity’ Ahead Of Co-Hosting ‘Live’ Welcoming viewers, Ripa joked that her husband would be “joining me today — and permanently, until one of us dies.” Conseulos said,  “Thank you for trusting me to be your co-host.” The couple’s 21-year-old daughter Lola was also in the studio audience for the show, making the day a family affair.

Ripa and Consuelos spoke with Variety about going from husband-and-wife to co-hosts, admitting they were not into the idea at first. “We’d be the last people on earth to suggest ourselves to work together for anything,” Ripa said. “They were putting the data in front of us, like, ‘Do you realize how much you’ve worked together in your careers?’ And it actually really started to make sense to us.” Executive producer Michael Gelman said, “The concept of the show was always a faux husband and wife, right?

I have described it where it’s these two people, they’ve woken up and now they’re having coffee, and then their friends are coming over who happen to be celebrities, and we’re all having a good time.

Now, it’s just graduated to a new level of reality, which is a real husband and wife.” In fact, Gelman admitted that Consuelos, who has regularly appear on “Live” over the years.