Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos Are Pretty Popular inWickedFirst Look atLive's After the Oscars Show (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Kelly Ripalooked so much likeAriana Grandewhen she dressed as theAcademy Award-nominated star’sWickedcharacter for a pre-tapped bit openingLive with Kelly and Mark’s annual After the Oscars Show, she decided to play a trick on husbandMark Consuelos.

In a conversation with PEOPLE to promote the special, Consuelos recalls receiving a call from Ripa’s assistant telling him that his wife wanted her to say hello to Grande over FaceTime.

“I was like, ‘What!? I’m not prepared for this,” Consuelos says. “And she completely fooled me because I when I grabbed the phone, I truly thought that was Grande.”

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Kelly Ripa.Lorenzo Bevilaqua/WABC

Lorenzo Bevilaqua/WABC

Ripa’s ruse didn’t last for long. “It was very funny because I could see he was secretly annoyed and doing that fake nice thing at first. He was like, ‘Oh my gosh, hiiiii!.’ And then once I spoke, his face totally changed and he was like, ‘Wait a minute…’ " she says.

Jokes Consuelos, “It was freaky!”

“He’s not the only one Ripa tricked. “I FaceTime’d my daughter and her best friend while I was in costume and fooled both of them, too,” she says ofLola Consuelos. “It was great.”

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos.Live with Kelly and Mark

Live with Kelly and Mark

Seeing Ripa in the costume, it’s clear why everyone was confused. In PEOPLE’s exclusive premiere of the clip, theAll My Childrenactress is a dead-ringer for Grande, with makeup artistKristofer Buckleand hairstylistRyan Trygstadperfectly recreating the singer’s look in the film adaptation of the his stage musical.

“I’m basically playing Mark Consuelos with highlights in my hair,” he laughs.

Mark Consuelos.WABC

WABC

In addition to the opening, the special will feature interviews Ripa and Consuelos have with winners directly from backstage, minutes after they clinch their trophies. The location serves as the perfect spot for some of the best celebrity interactions of the night.

“Being backstage is always really interesting,” says Consuelos, who last year experienced the frenzy for the first time. “Kelly has said it before but when they come to see us, they’re completely out of their body, so you really get those guttural reactions.”

“They’re very kind to us,” Ripa adds. “And this year in particular, we seem to know so many people involved, so we feel a very strong connection to this year’s show. It’s going to be a fun night.”

“It’s such a live-wire that show because we don’t know exactly what guests we’re going to have,” Ripa says. " It really depends on who wins the Academy Award, so there’s no way to sort of properly promote the show because every year, it’s a mystery. We’re making decisions sometimes minutes before we go live. It’s shifting. And the buildup to it, all of the editing that goes into, the deciding what gets cut and what’s in the show — it’s a lot of decisions making and a lot of pressure on the fly.”

Viewers can also expect to seeJerry O’Connell, who will serve as the red carpet correspondent forLive,as well as a performance fromSteve AokiandLil Jon.“It means so much to us to do this,” Ripa shares, of the evening. “To me, seeing our little show with our little staff on the big stage with all of those people in the audience — and I cannot say it enough, they line up so early to be a part of it, which is so kind of them — but it’s just incredible. We both just feel so much gratitude.”

There’s one other annual tradition Ripa, 54, and Consuelos, 53, have adopted over the years: a visit to In-N-Out on the way home. “That to me is the most exciting,” Ripa says. “I have cheeseburgers twice a year, and that is one of them, so it means something.”

Before even asking, Consuelos tells PEOPLE his order. “Two double doubles, animal style — that’s what I’m going to have,” he says.

Live with Kelly and Mark’s After the Oscars Show special airs Monday, March 3 in syndication (check local listings).

source: people.com