Kelly Ripa has been a staple on our screens for over three decades and has gone on to win six Emmy Awards for her time hosting Live. Her quick wit and willingness to be vulnerable have won her millions of fans worldwide, who never fail to tune in to an episode. Now, the blonde beauty is celebrating an incredible 25 years on the desk following the premiere of season 38, tying with Oprah Winfrey for the longest-running female daytime talk show host.
Tried and true
“That’s really nutty. Nutty!” Kelly told People about the major milestone. “Mark was saying to me backstage, ‘It doesn’t feel like that many seasons.’ And I go, ‘For you, it hasn’t been that many seasons!'” By her side for the past two years was her husband, Mark Consuelos, who first met Kelly while auditioning for the soap opera All My Children in 1995.
Prior to Mark, Kelly partnered with a series of iconic TV personalities to help her host the show. Ryan Seacrest joined her on the desk from 2017 to 2023, Michael Strahan from 2012 to 2016, and Regis Philbin for ten years from 2001.
Family ties
Her most treasured memories after being on the show for 25 years are the ones that involve her three kids, Michael, 28, Lola, 24, and Joaquin, 22, whom she shares with Mark.
“What I didn’t realize would become my favorite moments later on – because at the time, they were like anxiety-inducing and sort of, I was out of my head space – but when my kids would come on the show as small children and toddlers and babies, that was so special,” she recalled. “I have sort of this living diary of their lives. Now that they’re adults, they appreciate how special that time was for them.”
TV veteran
As for the part of the show she dreads the most, the mother of three shared that Kelly and Mark Do It Week was the bane of her existence. The week sees the two stars involved in multiple challenges. “I can’t stand Do It Week,” Kelly lamented. “I’m so sick of it because I’ve been doing it for decades, you know what I mean? And so every time we survive a Do It Week, I think to myself, ‘Well, we live through another one and here it comes again.'”
© ABC“And this year’s Do It Week, because we’re married, they’re putting us into more compromising positions,” she continued. “If we were not married, this would be an HR violation! I am convinced a hundred percent. Seacrest could never lift me the way [Mark’s] going to have to lift me!” The challenge week falls in September.
© Disney General Entertainment ConBy his side
Kelly has been a steadfast support for Mark during his time on the show, considering that Live is the actor’s first talk show gig. Thankfully, he has grown comfortable in the role and no longer gets self-conscious about his performance. “I was a little hard on myself when I flubbed a line, read something that was not there, or just made a mistake,” he said. “I was pretty hard on myself. So I’m a little easier on myself now.”
© InstagramKelly previously shared on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast that it took some convincing to get the Riverdale star on the show, as he was apprehensive about working with his wife. “Initially, when they came to Mark, he flat out refused,” she revealed. “I also thought that was kind of a bad idea. I was like, a husband and a wife hosting a morning show is different than a husband and wife acting together or producing something together.”
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