‘Live’: Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos Tease Adding a New Family Member

Already the parents of three kids and one dog, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are considering adding another member to their family.

On the Monday, July 21, episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, Ripa brought up how New York City animal shelters recently suspended animal intake due to overcrowding. “They’ve reached a breaking point. There’s currently over 800 pets available on the [Animal Care Centers of NYC’s] website,” she said before dropping her papers and turning to give her husband a longing look.

The city’s unfortunate situation could work to their benefit, as Ripa went on to explain, “We’ve been talking about getting a friend for [our dog] Lena because she enjoys our company, but she wants to see other people.”

Consuelos joked, “She does. She’s getting bored of us,” to which Ripa added, “She’s getting a little bored. Every time she looks at us, she yawns.”

Ripa later noted that she was inspired to invite the viral social media dog groomer Logan Rago onto the show that day after Consuelos started DMing her several videos of cute Shih Tzu dogs. Rago appeared on Monday’s episode of Live With Kelly and Mark to show off the results of his makeovers for Lena and executive producer Michael Gelman‘s dog, Billie.

ABC

“Was she a good girl?” Ripa asked the social media star about his experience with Lena. He replied, “She’s everything. She’s such an angel. You can tell she’s very well-loved.”

Ripa and Consuelos welcomed Lena into their family back in 2021 after she was featured in a pet-themed segment on the show. “My whole fear was that I didn’t want [our other dog] Chewie to feel replaced in any way,” Ripa said on the series at the time. “So, we always make sure that we give Chewie the first attention.”

The couple — who share kids Michael, 28, Lola, 24, and Joaquin, 22 — mourned the death of their elder dog, Chewie, earlier this year. On the February 5 episode of their daytime talk show, Consuelos shared that Chewie received an at-home euthanasia after suffering from multiple health issues.

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“You think it’s, ‘Okay, I’m doing the right thing. This is going to be, not easy, but it’s gonna be —’ It’s probably one of the toughest things that we’ve had to do as a married couple,” Consuelos stated on-air.

Later that month, Ripa paid tribute to their late pet in an emotional Instagram post. “I’ve been avoiding posting this because it somehow makes it real, and I’m not quite ready to let go. It’s been extremely painful to lose our beloved Chewie,” she wrote alongside a montage of clips and pics of Chewie from over the years. “We ache for her every single day. We still look for her and call to her and frankly feel lost. We are so grateful for the almost 18 years we had with this special lady.”

Calling Chewie “our stoic constant companion,” Ripa continued, “We know she is running free now somewhere warm and sunny, unburdened by her failing body. We were the luckiest family to have loved and been loved by Chewie. Thank you to The North Shore Animal League for blessing us with our fabulous girl. Finally, thank you to everyone for the beautiful messages from all of you who knew or felt like you knew Chewie. Our hearts may be broken, but are filled with the memories of joy Chewie gave us.”

Live With Kelly and Mark, Weekdays, check local listings