Kelly Ripa usually sticks to a strict diet, but she makes an exception once a decade. On Wednesday, the Live with Kelly and Ryan co-host shared a video of herself opening a Christmas gift bag early to reveal a McRib from McDonald’s. Ripa’s fans found the video hilarious but were surprised to see her break her diet. McDonald’s announced the return of the McRib for the holiday season on Dec. 2.
“Sometimes Christmas comes early,” Ripa wrote on Instagram. She tagged her producer, Albert Bianchini to let him know this would not be a regular thing. “It’s once every ten years, calm down!” she wrote in parenthesis. The background music for the clip was a portion of “The Nutcracker Suite.”
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It was surprising to see Ripa, 50, indulge in a fast-food sandwich since she is known to stick to a strict diet. In the past, she has voiced support for the alkaline diet. “It has changed my life… I swear I think it’s responsible for me not being in pain,” she said on the show, reports Good Housekeeping.
The alkaline diet promotes foods that are supposed to keep pH levels in the body low, so foods that are not acidic or have too much sugar are prioritized. Some alkaline diet plans are similar to a vegan diet, but the value of the diet is up for debate. “Whole, real, unprocessed foods are quite beneficial to the body, but no reliable evidence suggests it has much to do with pH levels,” dietician Stefani Sassos told Good Housekeeping. “Eating more vegetables, cutting back on sugar, reducing your consumption of processed foods, and drinking more water are just general recommendations that are good for your health.”
Out of all the potential responses to “what are you doing?” I never thought I’d hear “watching a video of Kelly Ripa opening a McRib.”
— billeigh (@bscandalz) December 17, 2020
Ripa’s Instagram post had her famous followers and fans shocked. Some shared their negative experiences with McRibs. “Had one too last week because I was feeling ‘festive.’ Guess the party is over cuz I’m still feeling it,” NBC New York journalist Tracie Strahan wrote.
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“Barf you did not,” one person who is not a McRib fan wrote. Then again, one person wrote, “Yum! I love McRibs.” “it’s nasty! Pressed meat and I had gristle in mine. Never again,” another person who did not like it wrote.
“Don’t do it, that is not meat. Your arteries will thank you later,” one person wrote. “Noooooo. Is that similar to coal in your stocking,” another chimed in. “Noooooo don’t do it,” another person asked Ripa.
Some fans questioned whether Ripa would actually eat the sandwich herself or not. “Yeah! I don’t see you eating that,” one person wrote. “I doubt that’s yours!” another chimed in.
Many McRib fans were happy to see the post, since it confirmed the sandwiches are back. The McRib is only available for a limited time when it is in stores, so its fans celebrate whenever they become available. “Yas!!!! #mcrib two legends in the same room! I can’t,” one fan wrote. “I’m so hungry now,” another wrote.
