Mark Consuelos Sleeps With a Body Pillow and Nasal Dilators: The Science Behind His Sleep Habits
When Emily Blunt sat across from Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on an April 2026 episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, the conversation veered somewhere most morning shows never go: deep into the strange, specific science of how married couples’ sleep arrangements actually look behind closed doors.
The sleep arrangements in the Ripa-Consuelos household? Cooler than you’d expect (literally) and backed by more research than anyone bargained for.
It started with a confession. “I recently started using one of those long body pillows,” Consuelos admitted. Ripa explained why: “He has this body pillow that can cool him down at night,” she said, calling her husband “a furnace” while she stays “freezing” on her side of the bed.
“Where do you go?” Blunt asked.
“No, I’m there,” Ripa replied.
“Oh, you’re the body pillow,” Blunt deadpanned.
The Science Behind Using the Body Pillow
Body pillows aren’t just a comfort prop. They do something measurable to the sleeping body. According to Naturepedic, they help “ensure proper spine alignment,” which matters because “when your spine is out of alignment for eight hours a night, it can cause all sorts of pain, whether it be back, neck, shoulders or hips.”
They’re also a quiet hack for sleep apnea. Per Cozy Earth, “people who suffer from sleep apnea may be less likely to roll onto their back if they use a body pillow to sleep on their side.” The same pillow eases pressure on arthritic joints “from your shoulders to your feet” and, in the third trimester, becomes what Groove calls “a lifesaver” for pregnant sleepers.
Why Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ Bedroom Is Freezing
The next reveal: the couple keeps the room at near-freezing temperatures.
“Do you have the room Baltic-ly cold?” Blunt asked. Ripa confirmed. “I sleep Baltic,” Blunt agreed. Consuelos was so charmed he announced he’d be stealing the phrase.
There’s a reason cold sleepers swear by it. North Texas Sleep Solutions notes that “when nighttime approaches, our body temperature naturally begins to drop as a signal that it’s time to slow down and rest.” A cooler room “reinforces your body’s instinct to sleep,” speeding sleep onset and protecting REM.
Cooler sleep environments are also linked to “longer slow wave sleep duration, stronger physical recovery and muscle repair, and increased growth hormone release,” according to Chilipad. Translation: the cold room isn’t just preference — it’s where deep sleep, the stage that rebuilds muscle and supports immunity, actually lives.
Ripa joked that being able to crank up her side of the bed at will would have made for a very effective form of birth control. Consuelos’s contribution: “Lava! Hot lava!”
The Wild Statistics on How Couples Actually Sleep
Then came the data. Ripa, reading aloud, shared findings on which positions partners actually choose:
- Light contact, like an arm or leg touching, accounts for 23% of couples
- Spooning: 13.3%
- Intertwining: 4.2%
- Sleeping face to face: 3.5%
“That is too much,” Ripa said of the intertwiners. “Does anyone here intertwine with their partner?” When an audience member raised her hand, Ripa was floored. “You do? That is wild. Ma’am, that is wild!”
A separate Better Sleep Council survey adds more texture: 63% of couples sleep “most of the night separated,” 26% report sleeping better alone, 9% sleep in separate bedrooms entirely, and nearly 2 in 10 Americans say their dream home includes separate primary bedrooms.
Researchers say couples who cuddle at night experience “more secure attachment” and “lower stress levels” — a small but real boost to psychological well-being. “I don’t feel like we have insecure attachment,” Ripa quipped. “I feel like we are overly attached.”
The Full Nighttime Arsenal for the Consuelos-Ripa Household
The couple’s wind-down routine is, frankly, an inventory. Consuelos uses nasal dilators — flexible devices that, per Ear, Nose & Throat of Georgia, “gently open the nostrils and expand the nasal passages, allowing for increased airflow” and ease snoring. He also tapes his mouth shut, which also promotes nasal breathing.
Ripa wears a jelly face mask that “melts into your skin,” plus retainers and reading glasses. Blunt travels with a “sack of sleep aids” that includes a white noise machine, earplugs and a sleep mask “that encompasses my entire head.” White noise, the Sleep Foundation explains, contains “all frequencies across the spectrum of audible sound in equal measure” — the auditory equivalent of static.
“We used to be hot and sexy,” Ripa said. “We didn’t know it at the time.”
Now? They’ve got a body pillow, a Baltic-cold room and the data to prove they’re doing it right.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
