'Claustrophobic' Mark Consuelos reveals what it was really like in that whale mouth — and what's ...

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The &34;Live With Kelly & Mark&34; star guests as tech billionaire Tripp Houser on the ABC firstresponder drama. 'Claustrophobic' Mark Consuelos reveals what it

The "Live With Kelly & Mark" star guests as tech billionaire Tripp Houser on the ABC first-responder drama.

'Claustrophobic' Mark Consuelos reveals what it was really like in that whale mouth — and what's next on 9-1-1

The "Live With Kelly & Mark" star guests as tech billionaire Tripp Houser on the ABC first-responder drama.

By Patrick Gomez

Patrick Gomez is an Executive Editor at . Formerly at People magazine and The A.V. Club, the Critics Choice and Television Critics Association member has appeared on 'Today,' 'Extra!,' 'Access Hollywood,' 'E! News,' 'CNN,' and 'Nightline,' and can be seen frequently on 'Good Morning America.' Follow the Texas Native at @PatrickGomezLA wherever your media is social for all things 'For All Mankind' 'Top Chef,' and puppy related.

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October 16, 2025 6:57 p.m. ET

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It's doubtful anyone *wants* to be swallowed whole by a whale, but that's what Mark Consuelos found himself doing while guest-starring on the *9-1-1* season 9 premiere.

The *Live With Kelly & Mark* star guests on the first three episodes of the ABC first-responder drama as tech billionaire Tripp Houser, who is out on a kayak during a board meeting call when he finds himself inside the mouth of a humpback.

"The stunt coordinator was amazing," Consuelos tells ** of shooting the scene. "He goes, 'Are you claustrophobic?' I go, 'I am.' And he says, 'So am I.'"

Consuelos says the stunt coordinator described the whale mouth set as a "big pistachio shell": "You're going to be in it and we can open it whenever you feel uncomfortable."

Mark Consuelos as Tripp Houser; a humpback whale snacks on '9-1-1' season 9.

Disney/Christopher Willard; Disney

The actor and daytime TV host recalls telling them, "As long as you are cool with me saying every now and then, 'Hey, I need a little fresh air…' But it was great. It was actually super-easy. They had these palm fronds to mimic the whale's baleen. They had a bunch of cameras inside, and it was tipping back and forth."

While it wasn't the most comfortable day on set, "They were really nice to me," Consuelos adds. "They used really warm water inside the whale mouth. But as we shot later on in the day, that water was not so warm. But I mean, definitely I checked that off my bucket list of things I didn't expect to have on my bingo card."

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After surviving the whale, Houser feels indebted to Hen (Aisha Hinds) and ultimately offers her and a plus-one a ride in his spacecraft. (Doesn't hurt that it also helps his tainted public image to send some "real-life heroes" into orbit rather than some Real Housewives.)

The season 9 premiere ends with Hen and Athena (Angela Bassett) preparing for liftoff. But this is *9-1-1*, so "everything that could go wrong has gone wrong," Consuelos says of what happens in tonight's second episode.

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"It's like being on a boat," he continues. "All of a sudden we have a fire, and it's gone black and we have no idea what's happening. We only have a very small window to communicate with the vessel, because the satellites are down. The worst thing on a boat to happen on a boat, even if you're in the middle of water, is for the vessel to catch on fire. And I think the only thing worse than that is for that to happen in space."

*9-1-1* season 9, episode 2, "Spiraling," airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.**

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Source: "AOL TV"

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