Kelly Ripa Claims Mark Consuelos Was Paid 'Far More' Than Her on 'All My Children'

Prior to Kelly Ripa's tenure on Live, she starred on All My Children. Ripa's husband, Mark Consuelos, starred alongside her on the show when he joined the series years after she did. Although, as Ripa explained to Variety, Consuelos was actually paid more than she was despite joining the soap opera years later. 

Ripa initially joined All My Children in November 1990 as Hayley Vaughan. Before appearing on the program, she was a dancer on Dancin' On Air and Dance Party USA. Around four years later, in February 1995, Consuelos joined the show as Mateo Santos, with Ripa notably being a part of the audition process to find an actor to play Mateo. Even though Consuelos secured the role of Mateo Santos, he didn't have any credits to his name before appearing on the daytime soap opera. Despite all of this, Ripa claimed to Variety that Consuelos was paid "far more" than her even though she had been on the show for years at that point. 

"[Mark] was paid far more than I was paid [on AMC]. Always," she said. "And he started years after I started. It wasn't until I got what we call my 'fancy job' [on Live!] that I started actually earning more money than him." Ripa continued, "I was used to that pay inequity because that was my life for 15 years — 11 years on All My Children, and then during the Regis [Philbin] years [of Live!], certainly. I would expect a man who was at the helm of the show for many years before me to earn a substantial amount more than me."

Ripa and Consuelos are sharing the screen once again on Live. In early 2023, Ryan Seacrest announced that he was leaving the talk show after six years. At the same time, it was announced that Consuelos was tapped to take his place as a co-host alongside Ripa. Seacrest explained that he decided to leave the talk show in order to focus on his many other projects. "I'm going to miss my work wife and all the laughter we share," he wrote. "When I signed on to host Live in 2017 it was meant to be for 3 years, but I loved the job and working with Kelly so much that I extended my time and last year I made the decision to stay on for one more final season. I've been grateful to be able to share a cup of coffee with our viewers every day, one of the best parts of the gig."