Kelly Ripa’s son Joaquin announces bold change impacting his future as he prepares for new chapter

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ youngest son Joaquin is getting ready for a big year ahead! The 21-year-old has been studying at the University of Michigan for the past three years and is in his final semester at college. 

His proud parents often talk about his achievements on Live, but now the talented wrestler has spoken for himself about his future plans in an interview with the University of Michigan Athletics. 

What’s more, Joaquin revealed that he’s made a big change concerning his future plans, which were originally focused towards a career in wrestling, but now he has his heart set on following in the footsteps of both his parents, as well as his older brother Michael, as an actor. 

He said: “As far as studying theater, I think it started with wrestling, and then the theater side was second. My wrestling coach in middle school, Jeff Marsh, also went to Michigan. So, I was automatically pushed in that direction a little bit.” 

However, as he started to become exposed to more auditions, both through his course at college and by attending some with his older brother, he realized that it was something he was very passionate about. 

“I should actually look into doing this. That was the light bulb moment,” he said as he opened up about doing an audition on his brother’s behalf. 

Now, Joaquin is preparing to star in “A Few Good Men,” at the Power Center in Ann Arbor on Feb. 20. 

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He said: “I think it’s a really good play. I’m a big music guy and the soundtrack of the play is cinematic. Just based off of the rehearsal process so far, I think this will have the most personal impact on me.” 

The 21-year-old is now making plans to continue acting and theater after graduating, and noted that his experiences with wrestling have helped him a lot. 

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He said: “Wrestling will always be in my life because of the team… I’ll always be brothers for life with the team and with the coaches. I think that being in it has given me a big mental edge. I’ll take the lessons that I learned and know that when things get hard, I’ll definitely remember getting through the tough times in wrestling.” 

Joaquin’s siblings have also both pursued careers in the arts. Michael is an actor who has appeared in a number of productions, including playing a younger version of dad Mark’s character Hiram Lodge in Riverdale. 

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Big sister Lola, 23, meanwhile, is a talented singer, who splits her time between New York City and London. 

Joaquin was the first of his siblings to study away from NYC, with both Michael and Lola attending NYU.