Kelly Ripa is a doting mom to three children – Michael, Lola and Joaquin – who she shares with husband Mark Consuelos.

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The couple faced a huge change to their family dynamic this time last year as they prepared for their youngest son Joaquin to leave home.

Not only was Joaquin the last to fly the nest, but unlike his older siblings, he chose to study away from New York City, where the family is based, and instead move states to Michigan.

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At the time of dropping Joaquin off to college, Kelly opened up about the experience on Live, describing it as “brutally painful”.

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The star welled up when she said: “We took our youngest son to college. We dropped him off. It was really hard.”

Kelly then went on to detail the moment and took a walk down memory lane to describe why it was so agonising. “My kids had this thing which I did when they were little,” she said.

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are incredibly proud of son Joaquin

“I’d tuck them in bed, give them kisses and cuddles and then I’d say goodnight and then I’d leave and I’d come back and say ‘one more, one more’ and they would giggle and laugh. They knew I was coming back and they would be sitting there so excited. We would do it again and again. And then they got to be 15-16 and they were like ‘it’s weird’.”

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She continued: “We dropped Joaquin off at school, I gave him a hug. It was actually brutally painful. I said ‘I did not realise that 18 years would go so fast’ and he didn’t say anything.”

Kelly Ripa’s son Joaquin now lives in Michigan

Kelly said her youngest continued to hold on tight to her. “But then he turned to walk away and I shouted, ‘Joaquin, one more,’ and he kept walking’. I knew it was happening to him too. The emotions. He kept walking.”

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Luckily for Kelly, she has been able to visit Joaquin on several occasions and the 18-year-old has also come back home for the holidays.

She is incredibly proud of her youngest son, who not only is studying at college, but also a talented wrestler.

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