Kelly Ripa has finally weighed in on the debate over whether she or co-host Ryan Seacrest has had Botox. The Live With Kelly and Ryan host has always been candid about her cosmetic procedures, and her new book Live Wire: Long Winded Short Stories goes into even greater detail about her experiences. In her appearance on Watch What Happens Live on Sept. 29, the 51-year-old TV personality discussed the tell-all and a little Botox rumor about her co-host.
Host Andy Cohen asked Ripa, “You’re very honest about your use of Botox in the book, and you always have been, which I love. Who do you think has more Botox – you or [Ryan] Seacrest?” Before she responded, the talk show star laughed out loud. “Oh, definitely me,” Ripa said. “I don’t think he does Botox and if he does, he and I should talk about it.”
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People’s latest cover story also addresses the various stories featured in the All My Children alum’s book, including those about Botox. According to the outlet, Ripa “thanks one New York surgeon for ‘restoration from the neck up,’ and chats freely about cosmetic injectables.”
Her transparency about cosmetic work is as unrestrained as ever. “For me, it was just more of my comfort level,” reads one excerpt. “If I worked off camera, I would not wash my hair with regularity or wear makeup but when I started to see things that I didn’t like, I thought, well, the next turtleneck is going to have two eye holes. I’m not saying you should let people bully you into cosmetic procedures. These are my choices for me.”
Prevention shared another Botox story from Ripa’s memoir about her first treatment. The mother of three describes her first post-Botox period as akin to a religious experience. “I actually saw the difference in Dr. Brandt’s office as the years of sleepless nights from nursing babies and waking up early for work melted away,” she writes. “And like magic the elevens in between my eyebrows vanished before my very eyes. So did my crow’s feet. These were the things that really bothered me about my appearance.”
She adds, “I smile and laugh a lot, which is good emotionally but terrible when it comes to creating laugh lines. I find it ironic that the happier a person feels, the older it can make them look. Would I notice these things if I didn’t work on camera every day? Of course not. I am not as narcissistic as this chapter would indicate.” Ripa writes that she left the office with “a spring in my step,” thankful for her All My Children co-star, Jennifer Bassey, who told her “hop on the Botox train” in her 20s.
Despite having had unfortunate Botox experiences in the past, Ripa isn’t shy about sharing them. She revealed one of her beauty mistakes on Live with Kelly in 2016. “I’m going to tell you a story I’ve never told anyone,” she said. “I got bad Botox about … what was it, a year ago? And it was bad. It did something to my good side, so then I had two bad sides. I’m not kidding!” Ripa shared that the Botox injection was already wearing off, but she refused to say much more. “I’m starting to look myself again, but there was about a six-month period where people were like: ‘What’s wrong with Kelly? She doesn’t smile anymore,’” she said. “And I was like: ‘I am smiling!’”
