Twitter ripped into Mark Consuelos after his first day on "Live with Kelly and Mark."
Does the fanbase's cold shoulder mark the beginning of the end?
When Ryan Seacrest announced he would be leaving "Live with Kelly and Ryan" after six years,
it seemed like an obvious choice to have Kelly Ripa's husband, Mark Consuelos, host alongside
her.
"Joining me today, and permanently until one of us dies, is Mark Conseulos."
Unfortunately, Consuelos and Ripa's first day as official co-hosts was not well-received
by viewers.
One fan tweeted:
"Your first show together today was horrible, painful.
I turned it off."
Another called Ripa out for constantly interrupting her husband and wrote:
"Kelly please LET Mark finish his sentences.
Otherwise, this is gonna be hard to watch every day."
Meanwhile, another person complained about Consuelos' casual first-day attire, writing:
"Can Mark please dress up for the show.
Jean jacket??
Jeans??
I expected better from him.
What is the goal to make it look like he could care less about the show??"
Despite the bad reviews, Mark Consuelos is not going to let a few negative comments ruin
his first day on "Live with Kelly and Mark."
After his debut, he told Us Weekly,
"This show today truly felt like home.
I always feel at home with Kelly but [working] together this morning just felt so right."
Consuelos shared that he and Ripa always felt at ease when together and that he's excited
about the future of the show.
His wife and co-star had only praises for Consuelos, saying:
"Mark did amazing!
Better than I even thought.
I look forward to a long TV partnership with him.
He's a natural and I have a good feeling this is going to be great for a while."
"What do you see about this one over here?
Anything?"
"Honestly, I think that the show's gonna do better than ever."
However, when Consuelos' second day rolled around, fans still weren't digging the new
host.
One person took to Twitter to say:
"Gosh I don't know with them together, I am not a fan.
Loved Ryan and all his stories, he brought another layer to the show.
Kelly and Mark look uncomfortable together, it's hard to watch.
Mark as a fill in cohost was fun to watch.
This isn't fun to watch anymore.
Need Ryan back."
Still, it wasn't all negative feedback.
At least one fan tweeted,
"I LOVE them together!!
I want to know the secret to their beautiful marriage and family."
While Mark Consuelos has been guest hosting on "Live" and occasionally filling in for
Ryan Seacrest for years, he wasn't initially on board with the idea of being a permanent
co-host, and neither was Kelly.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the couple admitted to feeling hesitant when they were
first pitched the idea.
Mark said:
"We were like, 'Wait, that seems like a really bad idea.
And we started making a pros and cons list and we were like, 'Wait...'"
Apparently, after much deliberation, Ripa dished that they both realized they were "all
pros," with Consuelos noting that since they had a long history of working together and
were a well-oiled machine both on and off camera, becoming workmates again just made
sense.
Eventually, they both agreed that Consuelos was indeed the obvious choice to replace Seacrest,
considering how their roots can be traced back to the same network.
Naysayers aside, ABC knew what they were doing when they approached Mark Consuelos to be
a "Live" co-host.
Page Six reported that the network had been trying to get Consuelos to agree to join the
show roughly a year before Ryan Seacrest revealed his plans to leave.
A source told the outlet that thanks to the glowing feedback they had been getting when
Consuelos would guest host, ABC thought he was a "built-in host" for the program.
Meanwhile, the show's executive producer, Michael Gelman, gushed that Consuelos was
"the perfect choice" and hiring him was a no-brainer.
He told Variety:
"When we were booking Kelly, we were booking Mark.
He's been here.
People have always been fascinated when he comes on because you're not just hearing two
friends.
Now you're hearing things that are going on in real relationships, like, 'You were snoring
last night.'
People like that, so it wasn't a hard decision."
*snore recording*
As for Consuelos, he said that he's not taking anything for granted and is aware that he
has big shoes to fill.
He shared:
"I think I just need to separate myself from the husband role, and just focus on being
someone who's been hired to take that coveted spot.
The show is the No. 1 talk show in daytime.
It's like coming on to a championship team — and being a pivotal part of a team, you
just don't want to screw up."
*snore* "Alright."
*snore*