TV Shows
Fans Still Love Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ Earliest TV Moments
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos built a real-life romance on All My Children as Hayley and Mateo, and now they may bring Pine Valley back in two Lifetime movies.
In 2026, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos wake up America with coffee, laughter, banter and fun every weekday morning on Live With Kelly and Mark. The coffee talk comes naturally to the TV pair as they have been married for 30 years. But even before that, they lit up the daytime screen for years as All My Children’s Hayley and Mateo, a soap opera pair whose angst turned into a happy ending.
A Runaway Bride and the Man Who Changed Her Life
Hayley was all set to marry Alex McIntyre (Grant Alexander), but couldn’t go through with the nuptials because she realized she wasn’t truly in love with him. Hayley ran off to the beach while still in her wedding gown, where she met Mateo Santos, who had recently moved to town to live closer to his sisters, Maria (Eva LaRue) and Julia (Sydney Penny).
That’s how Hayley and Mateo’s love story began, a love story that lasted seven years through drama and strife, as is de riguer on soaps. From 1995 to 2002, Hayley and Mateo married twice (but only once legally), opened their own restaurant called Holidays, and even made a foray into talk television in a case or reel life imitating real life.
While Hayley and Mateo were falling in love on All My Children, Ripa and Consuelos were falling in love behind the scenes. They kept their romance a secret from co-stars even after their 1996 Las Vegas elopement.
“I think [Kelly] might get a little nostalgic or maybe regret the fact that she didn’t get to have that big wedding,” Consuelos told People. “But I quickly point out to her that we had a number of weddings.”
After Ripa gave birth to the couple’s second child, a daughter, Lola, the pair left Hayley and Mateo behind, but never quite put All My Children firmly in the past. This past January, Ripa announced on her podcast, Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, that she and Conuelos are currently developing two All My Children movies for Lifetime.
Ripa has said the project is still in its very early development stages, but fans can’t wait to see them bring Pine Valley back to life, where Ripa and Consuelos’ earliest TV moments began.
