Mark Consuelos honors Kelly Ripa on her birthday: ‘If Gandhi and Groucho Marx had a daughter’
Mark Consuelos honors Kelly Ripa on her birthday: ‘If Gandhi and Groucho Marx had a daughter’
Joey NolfiFri, October 2, 2026 at 2:14 PM UTC
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Gandhi; Kelly Ripa; Groucho MarxCredit: Elliott & Fry/Hulton Archive/Getty; JOSÉ ALVARADO, JR./Disney via Getty; Lloyd Shearer/GettyKey Points -
Mark Consuelos celebrated wife Kelly Ripa’s 56th birthday with a wild comparison.
The actor said his wife is like “if Gandhi and Groucho Marx had a daughter.”
Consuelos explained why he felt the comparison was appropriate for his wife of 30 years.
Mark Consuelos celebrated wife Kelly Ripa’s 56th birthday with a glowing comparison to late, mustachioed vaudeville performer Groucho Marx — and Gandhi!
“It’s Friday, Oct. 2, 2026 — otherwise known as my beautiful wife’s birthday today. Happy birthday!” Consuelos, 55, said on Friday’s pre-tapedLive With Kelly and Mark.
The audience cheered as he and Ripa, his wife of 30 years, embraced at the cohost desk.
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on Ripa’s 56th birthdayCredit: ABC
Consuelos then pointed out that “some other important people were born on Oct. 2,” with Ripa almost immediately listing them off: “Gandhi, Sting, Donna Karan, Lorraine Bracco,” she said, while Consuelos added, “Annie Leibovitz. Let’s see who else... Groucho Marx!”
The actor explained why he brought up the actor, who was born in 1890 and rose through the early ranks of the entertainment industry to become a celebrated comedian and stage performer.
“When I think of you, I don’t necessarily think of Gandhi. But, if Gandhi and Groucho Marx had a kid — a daughter — because, you know what I mean?” Consuelos said. “You do have this very peaceful, very strong character, but you’re also really, really funny. I’m not sure Gandhi was funny, but, I know Groucho Marx was very funny.”
Ripa told her husband that “people say that Gandhi was very funny,” which he seemingly believed in the moment as he excitedly asked, “Really?” though Ripa shut it down, telling him, “I don’t know,” with a laugh.
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The couple, who share three kids together after meeting while colleagues on the set of All My Children, then discussed the origins of Ripa’s name, with Consuelos citing research that indicates the most popular names of Ripa’s birth year, 1970, were Kimberly, Lisa, and Jennifer.
“I know, because I was almost a Kim,” Ripa remembered. “But our neighbors down the street named their daughters Kim and Kelly, and my parents almost named my sister and me Kim and Kelly, but they thought it was too close to the neighbors down the street. I was like, yeah, it’s not close, it’s exact. So, they named us Kelly and Linda!”
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos celebrate Ripa’s birthdayCredit: ABC
Ripa and Consuelos first married in a secret Las Vegas ceremony in 1996, though radio host Wendy Williams later revealed their union on her radio show.
The couple hid their marriage from their All My Children colleagues for months, with Ripa recalling on a 2024 episode of Live what happened the day they found out Williams exposed their nuptials.
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“We’d eloped. It’d been a few months at that point. We’d been married for three months, nobody at [All My Children] knew we were even dating, much less married to each other. We’re brushing our teeth and we’ve got Wendy Williams’ radio show on. We’re listening, and she’s like, ‘I’ve got celebrity dish,’” Ripa recalled. “The celebrities, I guess they had a broad use of the term back then, was the fact that two soap stars from All My Children, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos ... eloped in Las Vegas. There was this eyewitness that worked in the Clark County courthouse that said we eloped, and the news broke, and we had to tell everybody we were married.”
Live With Kelly and Mark airs weekdays in syndication. Check your local listings for showtimes in your area.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
