3 Kelly Ripa Secrets From Her Memoir ‘Live Wire’
Kelly Ripa has been a familiar face on morning television for years. In 2022, she tried her hand at a different form of media — she wrote a book! Ripa’s Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories revealed details about her career, her marriage, and what it’s been like to have all her kids off at college.
Kelly Ripa reveals in her memoir how she really felt about Regis Philbin leaving ‘Live!’
One of the biggest bombshells Kelly Ripa dropped in her memoir was the true nature of her relationship with longtime co-host Regis Philbin. She revealed that the rumors were true and that she and Philbin were not exactly best friends off-camera.
Ripa also revealed that Philbin announced he would be leaving Live! With Regis and Kelly live on the air, with Ripa sitting right beside him. “He had his reasons for leaving the show. Nobody gets that more than me,” Ripa wrote (via People). However, she was disappointed that the public blamed her for his exit when she was “the only person kept out of the room, when that huge show-changing decision was being made.”
She wrote about suddenly feeling “responsible” for the success of the morning show. And she shared that, while Philbin was invited to appear on Live! many times after his exit, he almost always declined.
Why Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos eloped
Ripa also gave fans an inside look at her lasting marriage with husband and actor Mark Consuelos. The couple met while both were starring on All My Children, where Consuelos played her character’s love interest.
The pair quickly struck up a relationship, but it ended in 1996 when Consuelos broke up with her. Furious at being “dumped” for the first time, Ripa made sure to dress to impress when the two were forced to appear on (ironically) Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee.
Consuelos and Ripa made amends. That same day, Consuelos suggested they use their two days off to fly to Las Vegas and get married. They did, and 25 years later, the couple is still going strong.
Kelly Ripa’s thoughts on being an empty-nester, plus her cosmetic procedures
The couple share three children — Michael, 25, Lola, 21, and Joaquin, 19. Now that all three are off at college, Ripa wrote that she and Consuelos are embracing being empty-nesters. Michael is living on his own in New York City, Lola is studying abroad in London, and Joaquin is attending the University of Michigan.
Even though it’s been an adjustment, Ripa wrote that she and her husband are now embracing their “future as parents who now have more freedom than were used to.” Her relationships with her husband and children weren’t the only things Ripa shared in her memoir.
Ripa also revealed that she has had a number of cosmetic procedures. This includes Botox treatments, which she uses “sparingly,” and surgery on her neck — something she referred to as a “small, instrumental, and preventative” change.
