KELLY RIPA is keeping a steamy secret -- her husband was a male stripper!

Pals say Kelly, just hired to replace Kathie Lee Gifford as Regis Philbin's cohost, has a good sense of humor about the past of her husband Mark Consuelos -- who also plays her TV husband on the soap opera "All My Children."

"Mark's stripping days were well before he met her," a friend of Kelly's told The ENQUIRER.

Besides, "he kept a G-string on -- so he wasn't doing anything real explicit.

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FAST FACT:
As a teenager, Kelly Ripa was a regular on the TV show "Dance Party USA."

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"Kelly's not at all embarrassed -- Mark has an awesome body and Kelly is very proud of it. I wouldn't doubt it if she tells Regis on the show about Mark's stripping. It's great material."

In fact, Mark's still stripping -- but only for Kelly in private.

"But she doesn't tip me for it," he joked in an interview.

Mark danced under the name "Meaty Mark" at a Tampa nightclub called Stingers.

"Back then, I was young, stupid and I really needed the money," he said.

Mark's stripping days ended in 1995 -- when he got cast as a regular on "All My Children."