Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos Reveal Why They ‘Say Nothing’ When It Comes to Who Their Kids Are Dating

The couple and co-hosts share three children – Michael, 27, Lola, 22, and Joaquin, 21

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos try to stay out of their kids’ dating lives.

On the Thursday, June 6 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, the couple, who share kids Michael, 27, Lola, 22, and Joaquin, 21, have a candid conversation about arranged marriages.

“Well listen to this,” Ripa, 53, says to her husband and co-host. “The Indian Matchmaking show sort of brought it to the forefront in showing people what the arranged marriages thing is sort of all about. So the national divorce average is around 50%. Arranged marriage divorce rate is 4%. So parents know what they’re talking about.”

Consuelo, 53, asks, “Would we do that for our kids?”

I think we would select the kids that our kids are with, we would select those kids. If I could have hand-selected them… but I don’t want to say that,” Ripa responds.

She then explains that whether you like or dislike who your child is with, it’s difficult to push them in the right direction.

“You don’t want to say too much, ’cause you know how that goes. So you have to act different,” she says.

Consuelos agrees, saying “If you have comments, you’ll push them towards that person.”

The couple accepts that the best thing they can do is to “say nothing” when it comes to who their kids are dating,

“Yeah if you don’t like somebody your child is with and you express that, they dig in. But if you like them too much then it’s like, ‘Hmm… why does my mom like them.’ So we say nothing,” Ripa shares.

The happy couple recently celebrated Michael’s 27th birthday.

The couple posted a joint Instagram tribute to their eldest child on Instagram on June 2, featuring a throwback reel of Michael through the years, set to the Curtis Mayfield song “Move on Up.”

The reel includes photos and videos of Michael reaching milestones such as crawling and walking as a baby and trick-or-treating as a young boy, as well as footage from his past birthdays.

“Happy 27th birthday to the founding member of our family @Michael.Consuelos 🎉. You got the ball rolling baby and we love you!” Ripa captioned the post.