Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have three adult children: Michael, 28, Lola, 24, and Joaquin, 23. Remember when a psychic correctly guessed that Kelly was pregnant with Lola during her Live audition? Time flies. Now, Michael and Joaquin are both actors based in New York City while Lola is a singer-songwriter living in London. Joaquin just made his Broadway debut as young Biff Loman in the latest revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Mark and Kelly saw the show on opening night. Lola flew back home to support her brother.
Kelly and Mark often share family anecdotes on Live with Kelly and Mark. On a recent show, they told a funny story about an issue they were having with their daughter, who stayed with them during her visit to NYC. Neither of Lola’s parents was impressed by her messy room, so they called her out about it on air. From USA Today:
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos took a moment on “Live” to shade their daughter Lola Consuelos’ messy room.
The couple’s middle child recently returned to their New York City home from London to see her younger brother, Joaquin Consuelos, make his Broadway debut in “Death of a Salesman.” But while they were happy to have their daughter temporarily back under their Upper East Side roof, they weren’t as happy about the “wild” state of her room.
“I looked at her, and I’m like, ‘You’re leaving our house. Why is this stuff here? What is all this?'” Consuelos, 55, said. Ripa, also 55, added that while she is aware her daughter would not be staying long, “I kept hoping that she would, at some point, go into her closet and take some of that with you or donate it.”
The state of the room was so bad, Ripa told their 24-year-old daughter (and apparent former “cleanest camper award” winner) that she needed to clean the room “every night for a week.”
Consuelos shared concern that the habit would affect the R&B singer’s theoretical future family.
“What I said to her was, like, ‘You’re going to be responsible for younger people, theoretically, at some point. So, you need to get this under control, or you’re gonna raise a bunch of this,'” Consuelos told her. “And she looked at me, and she goes, ‘Dad, it’s 6:30 in the morning. You’re talking to me about my kids?'”
Despite the minor frustration, the parents shared that Lola’s visit was “very sweet.”
“She is a net asset, that child. She walks into a room, and everything gets more fun,” Ripa said. Consuelos added, “Just don’t walk into her room.”
Mark and Kelly’s story about Lola gave me a good laugh. They frequently overshare, but I thought this anecdote was hilarious. It definitely belongs in the “celebrities are just like us” category because I can relate to both sides! My own parents had a similar conversation with me after I moved out and left a lot of things behind. In my defense, I lived in an apartment and had no space. On the flip side, I’m now the parent who has to beg her kids to clean their rooms. In fact, I worked with my middle school-aged son this past weekend to clear out the “doom piles” of books, Legos, and other things that had accumulated. I know that’s my parenting karma.
Anyway, maybe Lola keeps her room messy on purpose. After all, on two separate birthdays, she walked into her parents’ room without knocking and saw them getting busy. Perhaps she’s trying to deter anyone from doing the same to her. If Mark and Kelly are serious about cleaning up the room, they should have boxes and trash bags waiting for Lola next time she comes home, and then help her get started. It doesn’t matter how old your kid is. Sometimes, they just need a good push to help get the ball rolling.
Photos credit: Robin Platzer/Twin Images/Twin Images/Avalon, Maddie Knight / The Academy/Avalon, LCY/Avalon
I noticed that she didn’t mention the (NY based) sons’ rooms. A comparison would have been interesting. Assuming they’ve moved out permanently?
IDK where Joaquin lives, but Michael moved out and lives in Brooklyn. Maybe Joaquin hasn’t been home from college long enough to make a mess 😂
We saw Death of a Salesman a few weeks ago and not until re-reading the program during intermission did I realize that the actor playing young Biff Loman was the son of Kelly and Mark. Anyways, Joaquin’s bio does NOT mention his famous family and briefly describes that he graduated from Michigan (not sure of his degree but Michigan runs rigorous theater BFA/MFA programs), and this is his first Broadway show. Joaquin absolutely holds his own in his scenes with Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf. The current production is getting a lot of attention because of the casting of two actors to play the younger versions of the Loman sons so Joaquin gets to perform the (pivotal, important) confrontation scene between Biff and Willy in Act 2 that is also a towering scene in American playwriting history. He gives a quality performance, very natural that also indicates, in a good way, that he’s had a lot of training.
He has to do eight shows a week and it’s Tony season, either Joaquin has his own place or he’s too busy/tired to make a mess!