What To Know
- Mark Consuelos revealed on Live With Kelly and Mark that he almost joined the Air Force through ROTC.
- Both Consuelos and Kelly Ripa honored their family’s military service on Veterans Day, emphasizing the sacrifices and benefits experienced by service members and their families.
- Kelly Ripa previously shared a throwback photo of her father from his Army days via social media.
Mark Consuelos is known for his acting and TV hosting, but he almost pursued a very different career path.
Consuelos and Kelly Ripa commemorated Veterans Day on the Tuesday, November 11, episode of Live With Kelly and Mark. “Happy Veterans Day!” Consuelos exclaimed, to which Ripa added, “Especially to our dads.” Consuelos noted that his and Ripa’s fathers served in the U.S. Navy and Army, respectively, and that his brother also served in the Army.
“I’m the slacker. I did an Army movie. Not the same thing,” he joked. Ripa, however, pointed out that he was once in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).
“Was there a moment where you were thinking [of joining]?” she asked her husband, who replied, “Yeah, there was a moment.”
Ripa went on to describe Consuelos’ family as a “such a military family,” adding, “When you tell your dad the time, you tell him always in military time, which, to me, is fascinating because that is a math I can’t do. I really can’t. You’ve explained military time to me to the point where it’s embarrassing, and it still doesn’t make sense.”
ABC
During their discussion, Consuelos stated that it’s “super important to give thanks” to “all the individuals who have served honorably in the military in wartime or peacetime.” Reflecting on her own family’s connection to the armed forces, Ripa shared that her father gained a lot from his time in the Army.
“He talks about it all so much, how much his military service gave to him,” she told viewers. “It’s such a sacrifice that we ask of our service members and their families, but my dad said it gave to him.”
Back in November 2023, Ripa shared a throwback photo of her father from his Army days in honor of Veterans Day. “Circa 1958: My dad, Joe Ripa was 18 and a Specialist 5 in the Army,” she captioned the black-and-white Instagram pic. “We thank him and all those for their service today and every day. #HappyVeteransDay 🇺🇸.”
At the time, fans flooded the comments with messages of thanks for Kelly’s father. “Wow! What an awesome picture of your Dad. Thank you Joe for your service,” one user wrote, while another added, “This is a great picture Kelly. I have pictures like that too. My dad was a Sargent in the Army. Your dad is a trip. He is so cute. I loved watching both of you on Generation Gap!”
Several users pointed out Joe’s resemblance to Kelly and Consuelos’ youngest son, Joaquin. (Along with Joaquin, 22, the couple also share their son Michael, 28, and daughter Lola, 24.)
“Joaquin look[s] like him❤️❤️,” one person commented. Someone else agreed, writing, “He looks like Joaquin!! 🥰😍xxx.” A different user added, “I see a bit of him in Joaquin in this photo.”
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