For Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, the quest to revive 'All My Children' is personal

Since starting Milojo, the accumulation institution she runs with her husband, Mark Consuelos, Kelly Ripa has learned 1 precise large lesson: “Everything is imaginable and yet thing is possible,” she says. “All astatine the aforesaid time. It’s benignant of amazing.”

The couple, who famously met successful 1995 connected the acceptable of “All My Children” portion playing Hayley Vaughan and Mateo Santos and present co-host syndicated greeting speech amusement “Live With Kelly and Mark,” person go precise adept astatine selling their ideas. The hard part, Consuelos says, is getting a amusement “over the decorativeness line.”

“It’s a numbers game,” helium says. “And we’ve learned that. It conscionable can’t beryllium 1 oregon 2 things you’re moving on. It’s gotta beryllium 4 oregon 5 things due to the fact that usually 2 oregon 3 of those, particularly successful the scripted area, are not gonna marque it implicit the decorativeness line. You’ve got to person a batch of irons successful the fire.”

To that end, Milojo consistently has a wide assortment of projects successful motion. “We’re conscionable mining for golden each the time,” Ripa says. “The mode the manufacture is perpetually shifting, it’s astir harnessing thing astatine the close time. You don’t privation to beryllium up of the curve. You don’t privation to beryllium down the curve. You wanna beryllium close successful that saccharine spot, and that’s what I find to beryllium the astir challenging.”

Consuelos credits his woman with coming up with the bulk of the ideas. “When I americium speechmaking a publication oregon a magazine, I intuitively ever fig retired successful my mind’s oculus a mode that I deliberation we could bring this to the tiny screen, the large screen, a theater, what person you,” Ripa says. “I’m ever looking astatine a mode to crook thing I find compelling into thing I deliberation radical whitethorn find compelling.”

Ripa‘s podcast “Let’s Talk Off Camera,” which she began successful 2023, is present successful its 4th season. Hulu bid “Squatters: Get the F — Out of My House,” which premiered successful June, was inspired by an nonfiction Ripa work successful Vanity Fair. Even existent beingness is sometimes fodder: The thought for 2009 TLC bid “Masters of Reception,” which followed the household down a elephantine wedding reception venue, came erstwhile the mates attended a wedding and connected his mode backmost from the restroom Consuelos returned to the incorrect reception. Other shows similar ESPN’s “Running With the Wolves,” which follows the mates arsenic owners of an Italian shot team, thin into Consuelos’ emotion of sports.

Kelly Ripa.

(Bexx Francois / For The Times)

“You person to beryllium nimble successful this concern and you person to beryllium capable to pivot always,” Ripa says. “And I deliberation that’s astir apt our strongest suit.”

Their latest project, inactive successful its nascent stages, is bringing the mates backmost to their roots. They are processing “All My Children” movies for Lifetime. The long-running ABC soap, which premiered successful 1970, went disconnected the aerial successful 2011, but emotion for the amusement remains strong. Consuelos estimates that connected immoderate fixed time fractional of the “Live” assemblage is made up of “All My Children” devotees. Ripa marvels astatine the fig of adults they conscionable who are named Hayley and Mateo. “That’s erstwhile I realized however agelong agone I was connected ‘All My Children,’ ” she says. “‘Because I’m gathering big women who are named aft my character. It’s chaotic to me.”

All that anecdotal grounds came to beingness when, successful January 2025, Ripa, Susan Lucci (who played Erica Kane), casting manager Judy Blye Wilson and caput writer Lorraine Broderick participated successful a speech hosted by Andy Cohen astatine the 92nd Street Y. Albert Bianchini, enforcement shaper for Milojo, says the vigor of the lawsuit was palpable.

Mark Consuelos.

(Bexx Francois / For The Times)

“I’ve ne'er seen a assemblage similar that successful my life,” helium says. “People were lined up astir the block. Everyone wanted to know, ‘When is [‘All My Children’] coming back? We privation more.’ We got to spot that successful existent life. And Kelly got to consciousness it successful existent life, and it made truthful overmuch sense. I conscionable cognize that the infinitesimal it gets retired successful the world, radical volition privation much and much and more. There’s conscionable a emotion there.”

They are moving intimately with the property of Agnes Nixon, who created the soap opera. “She was truthful acold up of her time,” Ripa says. “She covered topics that weren’t being covered. It was bonzer the audiences that the amusement drew, and she served them existent stories that were affecting Americans crossed the state but weren’t needfully being represented anywhere.”

The movies volition beryllium acceptable successful the contiguous time and absorption connected what beloved characters similar Erica Kane and Maria Santos Gray (Eva LaRue) are doing now. Ripa says she and Consuelos volition besides look connected surface briefly.

These imaginable movies marque a batch of consciousness for Lifetime, says Elaine Frontain Bryant, enforcement vice president and caput of programming for A&E, Lifetime, and Lifetime Movie Network. “Lifetime is ever funny successful shows that benignant of pat into a almighty nostalgia that tin beryllium made caller for today’s audience,” she says. “There’s a full procreation of women that person missed these stories and these characters.”

Lifetime has antecedently partnered with Ripa and Consuelos connected respective “Ripped From the Headlines” movies. “They’re precisely the benignant of partners you privation astatine a brand,” Bryant says of the couple. “They’re trusted voices due to the fact that each time they’re talking to their audience, which, a batch of times, is our audience. They bring a existent credibility and person an authentic constituent of view. You conscionable Kelly and Mark and benignant of what you spot is what you get, and I deliberation they bring that aforesaid authenticity to their improvement standards.”

For Consuelos, bringing “All My Children” backmost would besides beryllium precise personal. “It’d beryllium fantastic to springiness the fans thing that they’ve been yearning for truthful galore years,” helium says. “ ‘All My Children’ gave maine my family. I met my woman there. It gave maine my commencement successful the business. It gave america truthful much. It would beryllium a imagination to beryllium capable to springiness back.”