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Kelly Ripa
Kelly Ripa at the 2007 Red Dress Collection for The Heart Truth
Born	Kelly Maria Ripa October 2, 1970 (1970-10-02) (age 39) Berlin, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actress Television personality Talk show host
Years active	1986–present
Spouse(s)	Mark Consuelos (1996–present)

Kelly Maria Ripa (born October 2, 1970) is an American television host and actress. Since February 2001,¹ she has served as the co-host of Live with Regis and Kelly, along with Regis Philbin. Earlier in her career, Ripa played Hayley Vaughan Santos for 12 years on the soap opera All My Children; she also played Faith Fairfield on Hope & Faith. Both are television series on ABC.

Early life

Kelly Ripa was born in Camden County, New Jersey, the daughter of Esther, a homemaker, and Joseph Ripa, a labor union president and bus driver.² Ripa's father is the County clerk for Camden County, New Jersey since June of 2009.³

Ripa went to Berlin Community School in Berlin, NJ, then attended Eastern High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey.⁴ She performed in high school plays and was discovered while performing in a play during her senior year of high school, The Ugly Duckling.⁴ Ripa acted in local theater and was a featured regular on USA Network's Dance Party USA – an afternoon teen music program.

Career

Ripa's first television exposure came when she appeared as a regular dancer on the show Dance Party USA. She acquired her first major acting role in 1990 as goth teen turned suffering heroine Hayley Vaughan on the soap opera All My Children. While there, the character would become a popular fixture.

Ripa talks to the audience during a taping of Live with Regis and Kelly.

Later, Ripa was selected to work alongside Regis Philbin for the long-running talk show Live with Regis and Kelly, replacing Kathie Lee Gifford. Ripa was on double duty, but the following year in 2002, Ripa left All My Children.

A few months before Ripa hosted Live, she appeared on a celebrity version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and walked away with $250,000 for charity.

In September 2003, she was back on double duty when she co-starred (with Faith Ford) on Hope & Faith, a situation comedy. She portrayed Faith Fairfield, a former soap star whose character is killed off and who moves in with (and subsequently wreaks havoc on) her sister Hope's family. Hope & Faith survived for three seasons before a ratings decline led to its cancellation.

In June 2004, Ripa agreed to continue as Live co-host for at least five more years, at a salary that the tabloid television show Extra reported was $8 million/year.¹ In October 2006, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos, also an actor, were partnering with producers from Hope & Faith on a sitcom for The CW Television Network that would be loosely based on the couple's experiences as soap opera actors.⁵

In April 2007, Ripa hosted the 2007 TV Land Awards.⁶ In May 2007, Ripa stated that she most likely is done with acting for the time being.⁷

In 2009, Ripa appeared on the PBS children's series Electric Company in the role of Wednesday Jones, a private investigator.

On April 2, 2009, the TLC network announced they picked up two shows coming out of Kelly Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos's production company (Milojo Productions). They will executive produce Mom Inc. and Eat, Drink and Be Married. Ripa will star in Mom, Inc. as the host.

On October 16, 2009, Ripa announced that she would return to the show All My Children for two episodes for All My Children's 40th anniversary on January 4 and 5, 2010. Consuelos will be returning as well.

Personal life

In 1995, Ripa met Mark Consuelos, her co-star on All My Children. The two eloped on May 1, 1996. The couple have three children: Michael Joseph Consuelos (born June 2, 1997), Lola Grace Consuelos (born June 16, 2001), and Joaquin Antonio Consuelos (born February 24, 2003).

Awards

Ripa won five Soap Opera Digest Awards for playing Hayley on All My Children in 1996, 1998 & 2000. She has been nominated for eight Daytime Emmy Awards. Three of these nominations were for playing Hayley on All My Children, and 5 were for performing hosting duties alongside Regis.

In April 23, 2006, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special for co-hosting the 2005 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade with Regis Philbin and Ryan Seacrest.

On September 15, 2006, Ripa broke the Guinness World Record for custard pie throwing, tossing twenty-four banana cream pies in one minute at actor Wilmer Valderrama, as part of a Guinness World Record Breaker theme week on Live with Regis and Kelly. She beat the record set by NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth on the previous day, when he threw 17 pies at Ripa herself.⁸

On December 11, 2008, Cooper University Hospital announced that it was naming its women's health program "The Ripa Center for Women's Health & Wellness at Cooper" in honor of Ripa and her family. Ripa's parents met at the hospital in 1961 and Ripa has volunteered her time as a television spokesperson for the hospital.

Filmography

Ripa on the set of Live with Regis and Kelly

References

External links

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• Official website for Live with Regis and Kelly
• Fansite of Kelly Ripa
• Kelly Ripa at the Internet Movie Database
• Kelly Ripa in Page Six Magazine
• Kelly Ripa images