Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos‘ marriage has lasted the test of time, and All My Children casting director Judy Blye Wilson recently revealed it was love at first sight for Ripa.

While speaking to TV Insider in an interview published on Friday, October 17, Wilson explained that the soap opera was undergoing a major transformation when Ripa, 55, was cast as Hayley Vaughan.

“And I can’t really take credit for it because she was cast by Joan D’Incecco [the previous casting director] and by that group prior to my getting there. But I definitely had a lot to do with Mark Consuelos [getting hired as Mateo Santos] and that’s an understatement,” she said.

In 1994, Wilson was tasked to find the perfect man to star opposite Ripa as her love interest. “They wanted it to be a Latino or Hispanic young man,” Wilson recalled. “He needed to be young and drop-dead gorgeous. So, I started a big search, because it wasn’t very easy at the time.”

During the audition process, Consuelos, 54, quickly caught Wilson’s eye. “He was out of Florida, not local,” she said. “I noticed that he had gone to Notre Dame and graduated fairly recently.”

As Wilson considered Consuelos for the role, Ripa stopped by the casting director’s office and spotted a photo of her future husband on her desk. “The picture was on the desk of Mark, and she picked it up and fell in love for the rest of her life,” Wilson said. “It happened right there. She flipped out over his picture. And it was just an 8-by-10 headshot.”

Consuelos was later brought in to read for Mateo, though Wilson said he didn’t immediately get the job. “The network wasn’t sure,” she shared. “They were a little shaky. So, we tested him again with other people, and then it just got to be out of control. Nobody was sure, and everybody was unsure, and then they said, ‘We can’t push it back any further. We have to start this role.’”

The Riverdale actor did ultimately start filming, though it wasn’t guaranteed that the part would remain his. “He started playing the role of Mateo, and he had to screen test while he was playing the role with other guys, which was unheard of and phenomenal,” Wilson said. “Finally, they gave him the role, and he and Kelly fell in love immediately. The rest, I think, is history. So, that was a unique story because I don’t know of anyone that ever played a role while they were still screen-testing with other candidates trying to get the role.”

The couple is still going strong today. After they eloped in 1996, they welcomed their children Michael, 28, Lola, 24, and Joaquin, 22.

While they stopped appearing on the soap opera in 2002, they now work together co-hosting Live With Kelly and Mark.

Wilson went on to call Ripa and Consuelos’ love a “phenomenal story.” She added, “Not only were they truly attracted to each other, there was something rather cosmic that went on. She was drawn to his picture, and they were drawn to each other physically, spiritually, and every other way. You can say that it was just meant to be, and it’s worked out very well.”

This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 17, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.