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Kelly Ripa has noticed a major shift in the Live viewership after Mark Consuelos took Ryan Seacrest’s place as co-host.
The epiphany came to Ripa during this morning’s broadcast while she and Consuelos were talking about their weekend at Final X, which she described to as a “testosterone festival” and which chooses which wrestlers will represent the United States on the Senior World Team and the Olympic Team. Ripa noted, “I will say — I don’t know if it’s the Consuelos effect on this programme but since you’ve been here, there have been a tonne of men in the crowd,” she joked, “This used to be a safe environment for women. The crowd was entirely female, and every so often a spouse would watch very quietly.
Consuelos, who said that the programme is now a “male show,” opined that husbands who had previously appeared on the show were probably “making up for something,” to which Ripa responded, “He was in trouble. He was being made to pay.
She continued to discuss their experience at the wrestling competition to support her argument, where she had assumed no one would recognise them because it was a “guy event.” Every male in that throng literally approached Mark and asked, “Are you OK? How are you feeling? Because they watch the show and saw Mark be defeated,” she continued, alluding to the episode from June 8 in which Consuelos made a pitiful attempt to wrestle collegiate wrestling champion Mason Parris.
The Riverdale alum returned to the subject of Live’s newest demographic after his wife’s story furrowing his brows and adopting a more sombre tone of voice. “I just want to stress that women can feel comfortable here. But now guys can feel safe here as well. Ripa rolled her eyes and mocked him, saying, “Yes, thank god there’s a safe place for men, at last! That’s how we should brand the show.”