Kelly Ripa is thinking about life after
The long-running morning show host, 52, admitted she has a “risk-averse quality” that’s “probably the reason I stayed with the same job for so long.”
She added in a chat with The Purist that “other offers come along, but I like to stick with what I know. I am very steadfast in everything I do, and so when you have me, you have me for life.” (That’s certainly a tried-and-true statement for Ripa’s current co-host, husband Mark Consuelos.)
“Having said that,” she continued, “I don’t intend to work at this job for the rest of my life. I do talk about retirement with great interest, but right now I’m very happy, especially working with Mark.
Consuelos, 52, made his full-time co-hosting debut on Live with Kelly and Mark in April, stepping in for former co-host Ryan Secreast (though the American Idol host, 48, already made his first return visit on Live in May, just three months after he announced he’d be departing Live after six seasons ).
Ripa credited the fans for Live’s longevity in the era of streaming services and smartphones. “Our audience has remained with us,” she explained, “and I think it’s because we are a break from the news. The news we cover is oftentimes absurd. We are sort of a respite from the anxiety of the day. We’re not revolutionary. We’re evolutionary, and so we evolve in small, tiny increments along the way, and I think that’s very important. It provides comfort to people.”
As for what’s ahead in the new season of Live With Kelly and Mark this September, Ripa told the outlet that the audience can expect the same humor and irreverence that has been associated with the show. “Mark has taken the trivia game [to a new level],” she said, “where Ryan and I would just give away coffee mugs to the audience, and decided that he’s not going to do that anymore. There are no participation trophies in life, he says. ‘If they want to win a mug, they’re going to have to stump me.’”
“I don’t really follow the ratings, but from what I’ve been told that since Mark has taken over, people stay with the show all the way through because they want to see whether or not Mark gets stumped.”
The chemistry between Ripa and Consuelos as wife and husband has also carried over onto their television morning talk show. Earlier this month, in a Live episode, Ripa teased Consuelos for carrying protein powder with him whenever he goes on vacation.
“You know what stops you [at airport TSA] every day is protein powder,” Consuelos said at the time. “If you check that, they stop you, and they’re like, ‘What is that?’ I go, ‘It’s protein powder.’ They go, ‘Do you mind if we test it?’ I say, ‘Go ahead.’”
Ripa couldn’t let her husband’s anecdote go. “I have a question: Why do you travel with protein powder?” she asked. “I mean, what are you, in a weightlifting competition? Like oooh, oooh, you’re going away for the weekend, must pack the protein powder!”
And in Consuelos’s debut broadcast, the spouses of 27 years discussed celebrities over 50 who post steamy social media posts — something Consuelos is certainly familiar with thanks to his wife’s thirst trap Instagram feed.
During that segment, Consuelos asked Ripa: “Baring it all has no age limit, do you agree?” As she contemplated the question, Consuelos remarked: “I like it, I’m for it! Body positivity, why not?”
“Of course — especially their bodies, my goodness,” Ripa added. “They are like, it’s like the Benjamin Buttoning of all Benjamin Buttons. Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry, Paulina Porizkova, Jennifer Lopez, Martha Stewart.”
Ripa added, “I’m not an age-shamer. Here’s what I am: ‘Live and let live!’”
Later during that exchange, Ripa asked her husband if he would pose nude, saying, “You’re over 50!”
When Consuelos immediately replied he wouldn’t do it, she responded, “As somebody who has seen you [naked] many times, I highly encourage it.”
Live with Kelly and Mark airs weekdays at 9 a.m. on ABC.
