Kelly Ripa Says Marriage Is a 'Marathon' and Shares Her Relationship Advice: 'Push Through'

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have been married for over two decades

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos‘ relationship has come a long way over their 24 years of marriage.

During Thursday’s episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan, Ripa revealed the advice she’d give to new couples on how to make a marriage last.

“You’re going to fight, you’re going to have disagreements. Relationships, marriages are not sprints, it’s a marathon,” she said. “There’s going to be like, mile 24, when you’re like, ‘I quit.’ But you just got to push through. Just push through.”

Ripa, 49, said the key to making it through the rough patches is accepting the moments of frustration and taking a step back to look at the bigger picture.

“There’s really nothing that’s that insurmountable, besides abuse or things of that nature,” she said. “You’re going to fight. You’re going to have disagreements. You’re going to fundamentally not agree on things. And if you take a breath, you usually can’t remember what you’re fighting about.”

Ripa and Consuelos met when the she auditioned him for his role as Mateo Santos on soap opera All My Children, on which she starred as Hayley Vaughan.

During an appearance on Bruce Bozzi’s SiriusXM Radio Andy show, Ripa said she knew Consuelos was the one after looking at a photograph of him.

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Miller Mobley

“When I saw him, the photograph of him, I saw my entire future with him flash before — like I saw it,” said Ripa. “And I don’t believe in any of that and now I do because of that moment.”

More than two decades later, the actors have three children (sons Michael, 22, and Joaquin, 16, and daughter Lola, 18), and their marriage is stronger than ever.

“I was drawn to Mark because he was positively an alpha male, and I didn’t think I would be drawn to that. But I just worship him,” she told ELLE in 2013.

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