Mark Consuelos hails 'forever girl' Kelly Ripa

Mark Consuelos hailed Kelly Ripa as his “forever girl” as the TV star celebrated her 51st birthday on Saturday (02.10.21).

The 50-year-old actor – who has been married to Kelly since 1996 – has taken to social media to lavish praise on Kelly, describing the talk-show host as his “best friend” and his “confidant”.

Alongside a series of images of them on a beach, Mark wrote on Instagram: “Happy Birthday to my best friend, lover, confidant.

“My dance partner in life..My forever girl. For all the important days we’ve missed being together over many years, I’m so grateful to spend this special day with you. I love you, Happy Birthday amore’,

“M ()”

Kelly has also posted about her birthday celebrations on the photo-sharing platform.

The TV star shared a snap of her birthday cake, with the loved-up couple enjoying a kiss in the background.

Last month, meanwhile, Kelly and Mark reflected on their romance during a discussion about Jesa Chastain and Oscar Isaac’s new drama, ‘Scenes From a Marriage’.

During their on-air chat, the blonde beauty insisted she doesn’t fear that her real-life marriage will suffer the same problems as the on-screen couple.

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 – who has Michael, 24, Lola, 20, and Joaquin, 18, with the actor – jokingly said: “Just about almost everything.”