Kelly Ripa has plenty of reasons to be proud of her kids, especially her youngest.
Joaquin Consuelos, the 17-year-old son of the “Live with Kelly and Ryan” host and “All My Children” star, Mark Consuelos, has overcome two major reading and writing disabilities as he gets ready for post-high school life.
“Joaquin is trying to decide on a college right now,” said Ripa. “And he’s got lots of options.”
On Wednesday’s episode, Ripa explained that Joaquin suffered from dyslexia and dysgraphia.
“Mark and I were FaceTiming the other night,” explained Ripa. “Mark got very emotional and very choked up because he said, ‘You know, I never thought he would be able to go to college.’ Because he was profoundly dyslexic and dysgraphic.”
Ripa, 50, and Consuelos, 49, have two other children: 23-year-old Michael, a 2020 graduate from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts; and Lola, 19, a sophomore at NYU, according to People.
The host also praised Joaquin for his hard work and determination to overcome the “misunderstood learning difference.”
She also claimed that dyslexia offered her son an unexpected benefit.
“Kids with dyslexia learn how to read the room, they pick up on social cues,” explained Ripa. “Their other skills become [stronger].”
Consuelos told People in 2020 that Joaquin had been spending time in quarantine studying for the SAT and ACT as well as prepping college applications.
Ripa added at the time that Joaquin “sparks all the debates in the house about anything — political, social, environmental, poetry.”
On Friday, Ripa celebrated her 20-year anniversary starring on “Live.” In 2001, she replaced Kathie Lee Gifford as Regis Philbin’s permanent morning co-host.
Philbin died last July at the age of 88 from a heart attack.
