Known for their hit morning show, “LIVE with Kelly and Mark,” Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are now sharing a new side of themselves with their audience. In an interview with ABC’s “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir, ahead of a new ESPN docuseries about their journey of becoming Italian soccer team owners, the couple travels to Italy, back to where Consuelos spent most of his childhood, to help lift a town and their underdog soccer team that had been largely forgotten.
The couple, who purchased part of Campobasso FC, a historic Italian soccer club formed in 1919, told Muir how their underdog story resonated with the team’s passionate fanbase in southern Italy.
“This project is particularly special to me,” said Consuelos, who spent the first seven years of his youth in Italy.
The couple’s involvement came at a crucial time for Campobasso, located in a lesser-known region of Italy. “This town in this little-known region of Italy.. was in danger of losing their football club that they’ve had over 100 years,” Consuelos explained.
He credited his Italian mother for his love of the game, recalling her emotional reaction when Italy won the World Cup in 1982. Consuelos said owning part of the team has strengthened his bond with his mother, who now provides post-match critiques and discussions. “She’s actually very good; she should be in team management,” Ripa joked.
Their presence made an immediate impact on the community. Local residents, from elderly women waving from balconies to children wearing team jerseys, embraced the American owners who believed in their team’s potential.
“People have been fans for 40, 50 years, come up to you and say thank you,” Consuelos said. “And then conversely, see the little kids who are just now wearing the jerseys and having something to root for – it’s not work. It is an honor.”
Ripa emphasized their commitment to success: “We really want to win for them. Obviously, we want to win, but we really want to win for the town.”
