Even talk show hosts take a day off every once in a while. Kelly Ripa was absent from the July 13 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark but had her buddy Andy Cohen fill in for her. Andy used this opportunity to seek some parenting advice from his cohost Mark Consuelos.
Andy is a father of two. His son Benjamin Allen is 4 and daughter Lucy Eve is a little over a year old. Mark is a father of three 20-somethings, Michael, 26, Lola, 22, and Joaquin 20. Andy wanted to know the proper parenting protocol for being naked around one’s kids, so Mark weighed in.
Andy was talking about crop tops with Mark, which made him think of showing some skin. This naturally led to talking about nudity. "Speaking of skin, I wanted to ask you … I needed your advice about a parenting thing," Andy began.
"So, Ben and I have taken baths, he loves to take a bath, whatever, I guess that's normal,” Andy continued. “Now, were you ever naked in front of Lola? Like, I have a daughter, what is the protocol there? Because I'm a little bit of a nudie, and I feel like I need to start locking it up."
More from LittleThings: Kelly Ripa And Mark Consuelos's 21-Year-Old Moves Back In With Them Under One Condition
Mark was more than happy to weigh in. He said he "was never naked on purpose" around his kids. He believes when it comes to nudity "the rule of thumb was when they start speaking. When they start saying words."
Andy really seemed to value his bath time with his son and was bummed that his daughter would not get the same experience. "There will be no bath time for me and my daughter, that's weird," he stated. He asked Mark if he ever took baths with his daughter.
Mark thought that would be a little weird although did not seem to not want to make his friend feel bad. "Your eyes are telling me that's weird," Andy observed. "I just need the protocol."
Andy asked Mark when he should stop taking baths with his son. "Like, two years ago," Mark responded. It is clear where he stands on the great bath debate.
There was a time that Mark was accidentally naked in front of his daughter. Lola walked in on him and Kelly getting freaky on her 18th birthday, which also fell on Father’s Day. It was traumatic for all involved.
"She shuts the door and you hear, 'You just ruined my birthday! And my life! And I used to see in color and now everything is gray,'" Kelly recalled talking about the incident on Live. No wonder Mark has such a strong stance on bath time.
