Kelly Ripa is thinking about the next phase of her life. The Live With Kelly and Mark co-host revealed that she’s thinking about retirement “with great interest,” but isn’t quite ready to step down from hosting the morning show with her husband of 27 years, Mark Consuelos.
At 52 years old, Ripa has been a part of Live for 22 years now, replacing Kathie Lee Gifford in 2001. She’s gone on to host alongside Regis Philbin, Michael Strahan, Ryan Seacrest and Consuelos in those two decades, with her husband joining the show as her permanent co-host in April after Seacrest stepped away. But now, Ripa is considering what her own exit from the show will look like in an interview with The Purist.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“I think the risk-averse quality I have is probably the reason I stayed with the same job for so long,” she admitted. “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. Having said that, 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.”
Ripa previously expressed similar thoughts about retirement to Variety in April, saying that her husband’s casting definitely extended her time on the show. “It’s definitely breathed new life into me,” she told the outlet at the time. “This is a bird of a feather I understand completely. There is no anxiety about it.”
In her new interview with The Purist, Ripa thanked the Live audience for sticking with her for so long, especially in the age of streaming services, smartphones and computers. “Our audience has remained with us, and I think it’s because we are a break from the news,” she said. “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.” She promised in the upcoming September Live season launch “to provide the same sort of humor and irreverence that people have come to know and love.”
