Mark Consuelos Talks About Age of Love
Matt Richenthal
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Mark Consuelos may not be known merely as Kelly Ripa's husband after his reality show premieres tonight. Before Age of Love hits TV sets across the country, though, TV Guide sat down with the soap opera actor...
TVGuide.com: First of all, congratulations on the TV-movie you just booked. That's good company: Nadine Velazquez, Erik Estrada, Mario Lopez....
Consuelos: Absolutely. It's going to be a blast.
TVGuide.com: Although I think it disproves the theory that you, Estrada and Mario can't be in the same project together.
Consuelos: [Laughs] Or that we actually are the same person. We've never been in the same room at the same time, so we can put all those rumors to rest.
Consuelos: That's pretty much it â€" you nailed it. I narrate it, I'm his wingman/guy-talker.... I do referee a few of the eliminations, but we kind of felt that sometimes that was [Philippoussis'] realm and it was weird to have me jumping in it. But it was good, I had a great time doing it. I've obviously never done or hosted a reality show, and I found the whole process fascinating. And watching the differences between the two age groups was mind-blowing.
TVGuide.com: Have you turned down reality pitches in the past?
Consuelos: Yeah, I have, I absolutely have. I'll tell you honestly, I'm a big fan of reality, and this show kind of intrigued me. I thought it was really, really cool.
TVGuide.com: Is there a catchphrase for when Mark kicks somebody off? Like, "Our love is not for the ages"?
Consuelos: [Laughs] No, no.... There isn't a catchphrase, but I like the catchphrase of what the show is â€" "cougars versus kittens."
TVGuide.com: Someone here wanted me to ask you: Do you find the term "cougar" demeaning at all?
Consuelos: You know what? I don't. I guess some people do, but I really don't.
TVGuide.com: As if "kittens" is empowering.
Consuelos: Exactly. It kind of describes what the show is. I think you and I should push for them to change the title to "Cougars vs Kittens."
TVGuide.com: Take us through Mark's realization of the setup, because he didn't know going into this that he would be choosing from two different age groups.
Consuelos: This guy was engaged to an 18-year-old at some point; he had a past dating younger girls, that was his angle. When he met the 40-year-olds first, if a picture says a thousands words, he was like, "Whoa, what did I get myself into?" And then they put me out there to talk to him, and I was like, "Guys, he's going to want to kick my ass!" [Laughs] But the women that they chose.... Listen, 40-year-old women are sexy â€" I think they are â€" and he completely had a change of heart. My motto throughout the whole thing was, "Just go into it with an open mind." He was really surprised by what he learned.
Consuelos: Um... no. I was pretty much taken by the time I was on the soap opera [where he met Ripa].
TVGuide.com: "Gosh darn it."
Consuelos: Yeah, yeah, I know. But my wife is six months older than me, so technically.... At some point she's going to be a cougar!
TVGuide.com: Assuming that Kelly was the first-best thing to come out of your soap run, what was the second-best thing?
Consuelos: Working. Just working every day as an actor. Obviously by year seven I was tired of working [laughs], but it was a great experience. I grew up on that show, becoming a husband and a father.
Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.
