Where is Kelly Ripa? Is Maria Menounos replacing her on Live!?
The mom of three has taken some days off to be with her kids while they are on spring break, like she has done in the past. Ripa is due to return following her break. The Daytime Emmy Award winner officially joined Live! in 2001, replacing Kathie Lee Gifford as Regis Philbin’s cohost. While Ripa would have liked to have retired by this stage of her life, she told Parade.com last year that Ryan Seacrest, who was named as her cohost in 2017, “is really such a draw to me there.” “I talk about this with Ryan [Seacrest] all the time because I was really looking to retire like by now, but Ryan Seacrest is so fabulous to work with and he is such a good friend,” Ripa gushed. “We’ve been friends for two decades, and I’ve got to tell you he is really such a draw to me there. I just love working with him so much. He makes every day feel like I’m not working and that’s when you know you have a great working relationship.”
Will Kelly Ripa ever leave Live!?
Her plan is to one day get off camera. “I’ve been writing a lot, so my goal ultimately would be to eventually get off camera and start working behind the camera more in that creative aspect because I really do enjoy the writing process so much,” she shared. While Ripa is focused on the next chapter of her life, she is “really focused” on what her children—Michael, 23, Lola, 19, and Joaquin, 18—are doing first. She said, “Put them first and then I’ll line up behind them.” Next, find out why The Talk is going on a hiatus.
