LIVE! with Kelly & Mark star Kelly Ripa has boasted about her husband slash co-host, Mark Consuelos', assets on the morning show.
During a segment on Wednesday's episode of Live!, Kelly responded to a fan who theorized that viewers would eventually get bored if Mark kept getting shirtless on-air.
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A fan had written to the married couple to inform them about the projected downfall of the talk show.
Kelly, 52, read the fan's note live on air word for word.
"...'Shirtless Mark too often can get mundane,' never," the TV personality said in response to the claim.
Kelly added that if Mark, 52, did the show shirtless, "ratings would skyrocket," which caused him to blush and the audience to cheer.
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Mark headed the duo to a commercial break instead of replying to the comment that his wife made.
Right before producers cut to a break, Kelly blurted out: "I don't want to brag, but you should see pantsless Mark."
Kelly's assumption that ratings would increase if Mark remains shirtless on the show might hold some truth, given last week's episode.
Mark teamed up with Live! morning show executive producer Michael Gelman for a racy segment on the morning show.
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THE HOT GUYS
Three snaps captured from Live! of Mark, 52, and Michael, 61, taking an ice bath on-air during Wednesday's episode were shared on Live!'s Instagram account.
Both of the men were shirtless, sporting nothing but short shorts and socks.
Beside them, smiling cheerfully, were fellow Live! star Kelly and guest Dr Jonathan Leary, 33.
Dr Jonathan joined the Live! crew to promote Cold Plunge Therapy, informally known as timed ice baths.
Pics in the Live! photo dump showed Michael and Mark sitting in the ice tub and them standing in the tub with their ripped abs covered in wetness.
The Riverdale actor's physique was impressive, and many fans informed him how much so in the post's comment section.
"Mark is RIPPED," one fan praised.
Michael got his due credit, also.
"Wow, very brave guys, both in great shape," another added.
A third fan cosigned: "[Michael] Gelman is in good shape!!! You have to be to take your shirt off next to Mark!!"
THE TAKEOVER
Mark has appeared to growing on fans after replacing Ryan Seacrest, 48, on Live! in April.
Since Mark joined the show in April, Live with Kelly and Mark stands as the No. 1 syndicated talk show and No. 1 entertainment talk show across all daytime television.
This season alone, Live has amassed 27.1 billion minutes of viewing, making it the season’s most-watched talk show on television, according to statistics from Nielsen.
On a past episode, Kelly teased her co-host and husband that the audience has been looking a little different since the transition.
Kelly and Mark talked about seeing Final X, a wrestling competition to make the world team.
The actress remarked she was one of about five women to attend the event and joked the other women were moms of the wrestlers.
"There were so many men there," she said. "A ton of men."
"And by the way, I don't know if it's the Consuelos effect on this show, but since you've been here, there have been a ton of men in the audience."
Kelly continued: "So, I don't know what that is."
The Live! audience cheered as Mark said: "Yeah!" It's a bro show; there's a lot of guys here."
Kelly replied: "This used to be women, women that have come here before."
"This used to be a safe space for women," she joked as the crowd laughed.
She explained: "It was entirely a female audience and once in a while, there would be a husband, who would sit very silently, afraid to move."
"Like he was making up for something," Mark interrupted.
"Right, like he was in trouble, he was being punished," Kelly continued.
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