Mark Andrew Consuelos (born March 30, 1971 in Zaragoza, Spain) is a television and film actor.

Early life

Consuelos was born in Zaragoza, Spain
to parents of Mexican and Italian ancestry. His father was known to be a politician in Spain. Consuelos has lived in Italy and in the United States since childhood. He explained on Live with Regis and Kelly that while he does not speak Spanish, he does speak Italian. He grew up in Lebanon, Illinois, and later in Tampa, Florida. He attended Bloomingdale High School in Valrico, Florida, and then went to University of Notre Dame before transferring to and graduating from the University of South Florida with a degree in marketing, in 1994.

Career

He had played small parts on television series before landing the role of Mateo Santos on the soap opera All My Children, in February 1995. There, he fell in love with his on-screen love interest, Kelly Ripa, and secretly married her in Las Vegas, in May 1996. At the time, he lived on co-star Winsor Harmon's sofa; Harmon was one of the few to know that co-stars Ripa and Consuelos were not only dating, but married.


Ripa and Consuelos continued to tape episodes of All My Children, until 2002, when Ripa wished to focus more on her other job, taking over for Kathie Lee Gifford as host of what now has become Live with Regis & Kelly. Consuelos has however filled for Philbin a few times. Ripa and Consuelos have three children, Michael Joseph (born 1997), Lola Grace (born 2001), and Joaquin Antonio (born 2003). During this period, Consuelos also had a starring role in the educational serial Connect With English, which aired on public television stations as part of the Annenberg/CPB Project.

Since leaving All My Children, Consuelos has starred in the feature film The Great Raid, which debuted in theatres in 2005. In 2006, he co-starred in the movie, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, as "Steve", and in 2007 he appeared in, Wedding Daze. He has been seen on the Lifetime series Missing, with Vivica A. Fox. He can also be seen hosting two reality dating shows, Age of Love and Science of Love, both airing on NBC. He guest-starred on Third Watch, Friends, American Family, Fortune Hunter, SeaQuest and Hope & Faith. In 2008, Consuelos appeared in the made for television movie, Husband for Hire.

He has starred with Ripa in a commercial for the "Tide to Go" portable detergent pen.

Consuelos is a keen fan of English football and supports London club, Chelsea F.C. Also, Consuelos is a big fan of the New York Mets.

Consuelos has recently become an ordained minister and performed the marriage ceremony between Media King Howard Stern and model/actress Beth Ostrosky. The friendship between Stern and Ostrosky and Consuelos and Ripa has grown very close, so close that Stern asked Consuelos to marry Stern and Ostrosky. Consuelos honorably agreed and took it upon himself to seek ordination and make it an official ceremony for Stern and Ostrosky. Keeping to his promise on October 3rd Consuelos officiated a ceremoney held at Le Cirque between Beth Ostrosky, and Howard Stern. The guest list for the wedding, held at the restaurant, included Joan Rivers, Barbara Walters, Billy Joel and wife Katie Lee, Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman and Stern's radio co-host, Robin Quivers, and of course Consuelos' wife Kelly.

Awards and honors

In 1998 and 1999, Consuelos won the American Latino Media Arts Award for "Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Soap Opera." Consuelos won "Hottest Romance" along with Ripa in 1997 at the Soap Opera Awards.