Kelly Ripa Shares What She Realized After First Trip Alone With Mark Consuelos in 25 Years (Exclusive)

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos had a big realization during their recent solo vacation. The 51-year-old TV personality, who is a mother of three, revealed to ET's Rachel Smith what it was like vacationing without kids for the first time in more than two decades.

"When you're on vacation together for the first time in 25 years without children, you realize that your kids really have been occupying the bulk of the time," Ripa said. "So we found ourselves with time on our hands."

Ripa and Consuelos, who tied the knot in 1996, are parents of three: Michael, 25, Lola, 21, and Joaquin, 19.

"People [were] sort of recognizing that we were bored and, so they would suggest things like, 'You should climb the Via Ferrata,' and I was like, 'That sounds dangerous,' and Mark's like, 'Let's go for it,'" she added of the vertical route she and her husband recently climbed.

The experience, which Ripa likened on Instagram to couples therapy, wasn't without its challenges. "We did get lost, though, in the woods and we were talking about how we were gonna be on Dateline finally," Ripa joked. "Keith Morrison will say our names on TV and then we'll have made it."

Now that's she back from vacation, Ripa is focused on Generation Gap, the new Jimmy Kimmel-produced game show that she's hosting.

"I have lived this show where I am the sandwich generation. I have aging parents, I have kids, and what they know and don’t know about each other’s generation is shocking and sometimes surprising," Ripa said before explaining how the show will work.

"Basically you're asking [grandparents] questions only their grandchildren should know and you’re asking grandchildren questions that only their grandparents should know," she said. "The wrong answers are what’s funny. The right answers are what’s shocking, but the wrong are funny."

If she were to compete, Ripa does not think she'd be a great contestant on the show. "I can play Jeopardy! at home in my bathroom perfectly. I know every answer, but I know that if you put me under those lights and on that set with a buzzer in my hand, I would fail," she admitted.

As for how well her parents and kids would do on the show, "I think all of my kids would do great, because my kids grew up with their grandparents very close... They surprisingly know a lot about my parents and my in laws' generation," she said. "My parents might not fair well."

In addition to the family aspect, the series has a celebrity component, as it welcomes on stars that should be known by one of the two generations. A celeb that crossed generations? Ripa's Live With Kelly and Ryan co-host Ryan Seacrest.

However, the TV personality's appearance didn't exactly go off without a hitch. "He gave away an answer. He shut down production for 45 minutes because the lawyers had to get involved," Ripa recalled. "I looked at him and said, 'I will never forgive you for this. I’m going to come to every American Idol audition and thwart everyone’s day.'"

Generation Gap premieres July 7 on ABC. Tune in to Wednesday's episode of Entertainment Tonight for more of ET's interview with Ripa.

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