Kelly Ripa has detailed how she feared she would get divorced from husband Mark Consuelos after their third child moved to college and left them as empty-nesters.
MORE: Kelly Ripa makes surprisingly candid confession about the beginning of her marriage
"It's scary, thrilling, liberating, shocking... and quiet," Kelly shared of living in a house with just Mark after raising three children over their 26 years of marriage.
WATCH: Kelly Ripa and Michael Consuelos get into discussion about her eating habits
"There were moments when I was like, 'We're going to be that couple: Our third child goes to college and we get divorced because this is it.' But there was this other moment, where we went to the beach alone for the first time since our honeymoon with cheese and a baguette,' she told People, adding that she realized she now had time to notice the sunset.
"So I think for us, it was 'Oh, this next phase of our lives, this is kind of great.'"
Mark and Kelly wed in 1996 and the TV personality added that looking back they were both too young to get married but they have "fought for our marriage when it would have been easier to quit and throw in the towel".
The two met on the set of All My Children when Kelly played the character of Hayley Vaughan and her husband, fittingly, her love interest Mateo Santos.
Kelly and Mark have been married 26 years
They eloped in Las Vegas in 1996 a year after meeting and have since had three children: Michael, 24, Lola, 21, and Joaquín, 19.
They have been empty-nesters since last year when their youngest went to college at University of Michigan.
In July the mom-of-three detailed their latest adventure as they went rock climbing in Utah, the perfect opportunity to focus on their marriage. She captioned it: "Couples therapy," and fans were in utter disbelief at the feat.
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