'Just doing her job': Internet backs Wendy Williams after Kelly Ripa reveals how former radio host leaked news of her secret wedding to Mark Consuelos
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Decades before social media breaking celebrity news became a common thing, Wendy Williams was spilling piping hot tea on the radio airwaves. Recently, Kelly Ripa disclosed that it was Williams who leaked the bombshell story of her secret wedding to husband Mark Consuelos in 1996.
At the time, Ripa and Consuelos were co-stars on 'All My Children' and had managed to keep their relationship under wraps. But a tip-off to Williams from a courthouse eyewitness exposed their clandestine marriage, forcing the couple to confess all to their soap opera colleagues, as per the New York Post.
Wendy Williams' radio show leaked news of Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' secret marriage
As Ripa recounted on Thursday's 'Live with Kelly and Mark', she and Consuelos were newlyweds and brushing their teeth one morning when they heard Williams reporting the scoop. An eyewitness, who worked at the Las Vegas courthouse, had tipped off Williams that the two soap stars had eloped.
"We're listening, and she's like, 'I've got celebrity dish,'" Ripa said. "The celebrities, I guess they had a broad use of the term back then, was the fact that two soap stars from 'All My Children', Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos... eloped in Las Vegas."
At that point, Ripa and Consuelos knew they had to come clean to their co-stars about being not just a couple, but in fact, being husband and wife.
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos were worried about being perceived as unprofessional
So why exactly did Ripa and Consuelos feel the need to keep their relationship under wraps in the first place? As Ripa explained, since they worked together on the soap opera, they worried that if their romance was public knowledge, it could be perceived as unprofessional.
"The reason the couple decided to keep their relationship a secret was because we worked together and we didn’t want it to be perceived that somehow we couldn’t work together," Ripa stated.
While it seemed sensible at the time, Consuelos admitted that hiding their marriage was a "harebrained idea" in hindsight. Still, even if Williams spilled their secret sooner than expected, it all worked out as Ripa and Consuelos recently celebrated 27 years of marriage.
Internet rallies behind Wendy Williams
Upon learning of Williams' pivotal role in exposing Ripa and Consuelos' secret wedding, the internet rallied behind her. One Facebook user expressed, "Oh ok, so Wendy was doing her job. Thanks for reminding us how great Wendy is." Meanwhile, another user credited Wendy as the pioneer, stating, "Wendy Williams was the original social media."
A third user chimed in, highlighting Wendy's storytelling prowess, "Wendy got the stories and told them extremely well. One of the best at storytelling." Dismissing Kelly, another person added, "Oh boo boo Kelly. I’d much prefer to watch Wendy over Kelly any day."
Joining the chorus of support, a fifth user acknowledged, "Yep, just Wendy doing her job like any other gossip/talk show platform, Howard Stern, TMZ etc." A sixth user underscored the journalistic aspect, stating, "That’s what journalists do."
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.
