by Paula Neal Mooney

I couldn’t help it.

I couldn’t help watching Age of Love, a new reality show from NBC that hooked me from the first episode.

Getting hooked on Age of Love was in no small part due to the fact that Mark Consuelos — beautiful hunk of hubby to Kelly Ripa — is the host.

(Kelly once brought her fingers to her mouth and slurped with delicious delight in describing Mark; it’s such a wonderful thing to see that hot married love!)

Mark Consuelos is not to be confused with the 30-year-old in the center of Age of Love, an equally beautiful yet towering tennis pro named Mark Phillippousis.

NBC pulled a trick on Phillippousis when they brought out a line of gorgeous 40-something-year-old “cougars” during the first episode.

The guy couldn’t hide the shock on his face.

But by the time Phillippousis took a few of the 40-somethings (who look awesome, I might add) rappelling down the face of a building, he’d convinced himself that age really didn’t matter when it came down to love.

Psyche your mind!

Enter the 20-something “kittens” — hot and vain as all get out with their flat bellies exposed and “new car smell” — as William Holden’s character in Sunset Boulevard put it — and I’m sure Phillippousis’ fronting will fly out the window.

The Age of Love reality show has struck a nerve because it can prick us where it hurts, as my 38-year-old self checks the mirror for fleeting glimpses of the 20-something hotness that used to turn plenty more heads than it does today.

But thankfully, it’s been replaced by a maturity and Christ-assuredness that is relatively content in my skin, married and fine.

Yet even if I weren’t, I’d hopefully never go chasing after some young prey on live TV — and be pitted against women who could be my spiritual daughters.

Watch Age of Love full and free episodes online here as of this writing.