Mark Consuelos talks ‘pressure’ with relationship confession: ‘I wasn’t ready for that type of commitment’

Mark Consuelos opened up about a past relationship during Friday’s episode of LIVE with Kelly & Mark. The hosts discussed the viral trend of women claiming that having a boyfriend is now considered embarrassing. “Mark, I don’t know how to break this to you, but women are now claiming that having a boyfriend is embarrassing,” said Kelly Ripa. “I believe it’s about protecting the messy and inquisitive nature of people if the relationship falls apart,” she added. Mark appeared visibly shocked by the statement, noting that women’s current attitudes toward relationships now mirror stereotypical male patterns. “They are staying silent. Wow, they’re turning into men, oh my gosh. ‘Why put labels on it’, men used to say. It’s happening right before our eyes,” he said.

The 54-year-old then asked his wife whether she had ever experienced embarrassment in making a past relationship official. “Did you ever have a relationship where you didn’t want to put a label on it, or this is not worth talking about?” he quizzed. “I mean, I’m trying to think back because you’ve been my main squeeze for like 30 years. You’re asking me to go back in time and dig deep into the 80s,” replied Kelly.

Mark then recalled his younger years when he felt “pressured” to commit to someone he was dating. “I remember in middle school, gosh, I must have been fourth grade or third grade, and I was pressured into going with someone,” he shared. “But I did what you just said, the next day I couldn’t look at her, I was so embarrassed. I wasn’t ready for that type of commitment.”

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The co-stars eloped in 1996 after they met while working on the soap opera All My Children. Kelly and Mark share three children – sons Michael and Joaquin,  and daughter Lola. Mark has previously opened up about his fear of commitment when it came to his relationship with Kelly. Mark explained how he had broken up with Kelly a week before they tied the knot during an appearance on the Skinny Confidential podcast. “We eloped,” he said. “It’s pretty famously eloped and we told no one for a month. But, if you would’ve asked me a week before I got married and said, ‘When do you think you’re going to get married?’ I would be like, ‘I don’t know, maybe never, or 10 years or 15 years from now. And I was 25 years old.”

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Mark continued: “It’s kind of a funny story as we broke up the week before. I broke up with her because I was dumb, and it was the most agonizing week of my life and I just knew I never wanted to feel like that. I’ve never felt like that in my life.”