Although she has a dream come true Hollywood marriage, Kelly Ripa recently admitted she wants a “gray divorce” from her husband Mark Consuelos.
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During the Live With Kelly and Mark episode on Friday, Oct. 11, Kelly opened up about a “fascinating” article she read about the rise of breakups in couples over the age of 50. “I started talking to Mark about it, and Mark got very defensive,” she told the audience.
Kelly Ripa then recalled Mark Consuelos asking, “Why are you reading that article?” To which she replied that the story “popped up” on her news feed while she was waiting for a flight.
“It was interesting to me,” she explained. She noted that the divorce rate among older couples has quadrupled over the past couple of decades.
The talk show host further shared, “Back in 1990, only 8.7 percent of marriages among people over 50 ended in divorce. And by 2019, that number had jumped to 36 percent.”
She continued to point out the “astonishing rise” of the “gray divorce” among 50 and older couples. “And I was like, ‘Oh, I want one!’”
Despite being intrigued by the “gray divorce” concept, happily married Ripa admitted it was a “dark subject matter.”
“Like, it sounds like something amazing and then you realize this is very dark subject matter,” she pointed out. “But the voice of the narrator is so soothing.”
Kelly Ripa Has No Plans to Divorce Mark Consuelos
Kelly Ripa then reassured the audience that she and Mark Consuelos, who she’s been married to since 1996, are not heading for divorce. This is because they “still have a lot in common.”
She listed the reasons why older couples are calling it quits. This includes health issues as well as “empty-nest syndrome.” Ripa noted she would take care of Consuelos in any condition. “You would take care of me though. Change my diapers,” he declared. She replied, “Of course, I would!”
Ripa then said, “I do it all the time.”
The couple first met on the set of the soap opera All My Children in 1995. Immediately becoming inseparable, they eloped in Las Vegas in 1996. Together they share three children: sons Michael, 27, and Joaquin, 21, and daughter Lola, 23.
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have been very open about their marriage over the years and have even shared the most hilarious and embarrassing moments on their morning talk show.