Kelly Ripa says 'love and sexy time' are keys to marriage

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos credit:Bang Showbiz
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos credit:Bang Showbiz

Kelly Ripa thinks "love and sexy time" are the keys to her marriage.

The 50-year-old star has been married to Mark Consuelos since 1996, and they've reflected on their romance during a discussion about Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac's new drama, 'Scenes From a Marriage'.

Appearing together on 'Live with Kelly and Ryan', Kelly joked: "As if one of us is having a tooth extracted without novocain, and the other is there for moral support, we clenched each other’s hands. I’d seen it twice already, I knew what was coming. But it was still the same reaction."

Kelly - who has Michael, 24, Lola, 20, and Joaquin, 18, with Mark - doesn't fear that her real-life marriage will suffer the same issues as the on-screen couple.

The TV star explained that Mark is always quick to nip problems "in the bud".

She said: "I was like, none of this would ever be happening in the Mark Consuelos household because he would have nipped all of this in the bud immediately.

"He would have been like, ‘Oh, you’re upset? I know how to take care of that. Oh, you don’t feel good about something? I’ll take care of that. You’re feeling like maybe you’re overworked? I got you. I know what you need.' Because everything for Mark is settled with…"

At that point, Mark added: "Love."

And then Kelly corrected her husband.

She admitted that the real key to their romance is "love and sexy time".

Mark then said: "Not everything. Not everything!"

In response, Kelly jokingly said: "Just about almost everything."

Mark - who is best known for playing Mateo Santos on 'All My Children' and Hiram Lodge on 'Riverdale' - subsequently quipped that "sexy time" is his "stress reliever".