The Totally Inappropriate Place Mark Consuelos Once Took His Son For A Playdate

Actors Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' marriage has been going strong for decades, and the two have raised three children together. Of course, every seemingly perfect family has a few questionable stories in their past, and this family is no exception. In a September 2024 episode of their show, "Live with Kelly & Mark", Ripa called her husband out for a very strange parenting choice he made when their oldest son, Michael Consuelos, was a child. Namely, taking him on a widely inappropriate play date to Hooters.

During the episode, Consuelos describes chicken wings from Hooters as "Tampa's finest cuisine." Ripa then seized a perfect comedic opportunity: "I'm not kidding, the two dads took the sons to Hooters. They came in reeking of cigarette smoke." Consuelos was very quick to good-naturedly defend himself: "To be fair, we went on a dad and kid play date. ... He said 'we're going to take the kids out to eat chicken wings' and I said sure, and he was driving, and we pulled into Hooters." We definitely felt secondhand embarrassment watching Consuelos cringe his way through that part of the episode, but luckily, it appears young Michael emerged from the incident unscathed.

Eyebrow-raising play date aside, the couple's son, Michael Consuelos appears to be doing just fine. For example, in 2023, E! News reported that the young man was following in his famous parents' footsteps by working in Hollywood behind the scenes of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa might have some weird quirks, but they frequently show their love for their oldest son on Instagram, such as a sweet video they created in honor of his 27th birthday in 2024:

Michael also isn't shy about sharing his affection for his parents like the time he complimented Mark's style in a piece for People's Sexiest Man Alive list for 2022. Michael told People: "My dad has a cool closet. I often raid my dad's closet — and he always notices." This funny anecdote suggests father and son have a strong bond, and their unusual trip to Hooter's likely became an entertaining family inside joke.