Kelly Ripa Unveils Memoir Cover After 18 Months of Writing

Kelly Ripa is pulling back the curtain on her life in her upcoming memoir, Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories. Ripa unveiled the cover during Monday’s Live With Kelly and Ryan episode. Ripa, 51, said it took her 18 months to complete the book.

Ripa jokingly suggested the book would sell only because she bears a passing resemblance to Sarah Jessica Parker on the cover. The photo features Ripa in a black top and billowing pink skirt, similar to one of Parker’s familiar looks as Carie Bradshaw in Sex and the City. Ryan Seacrest said people might make that mistake if they look at the cover “from a distance.”

“Right, that’s how people buy books! From a distance,” Ripa said. “Oh, I thought she was posing for the cover. That’s not Sarah Jessica Parker?” Seacrest asked. “That’s not… that’s me!” Ripa said, notes PEOPLE.

Live Wire will be released on Sept. 27 by Dey Street Books. It is billed as a collection of personal essays about “childhood, motherhood, marriage, her career and the intersection of all the above – putting her thoughtfulness, assertiveness and deep understanding of the dynamics of gender and power on full display,” according to the publisher. Ripa shared “sharp, funny, and honest” stories from her life to highlight her “many dimensions and crackling wit.” Ripa’s fans will learn “what really makes her tick” by reading the book, the publisher said.

Ripa told Seacrest she did not collaborate with a co-writer or have the book ghost-written, as many celebrity authors do. “I did not use a co-writer. I did not use a ghost-write,” she said Monday. “If you were to look at the Google searches on my phone right now, you would find things like, ‘Synonyms for good.’ ‘What is a semicolon.’ I’m not kidding!”

Live Wire almost earned the title Uneducated in response to the book Educated, but she thought people might be confused by that title. Although she sounded confident about the book, Ripa told Seacrest she was “dreading” the book’s release.

“It’s horrible. I’m dreading it. It’s like, I keep referencing Kal Penn because he said it best to me,” Ripa said. “When he was here promoting his book, and you had told him I was writing my book. He said to me, ‘What level of self-loathing are you?’ And I said, ‘I’ve been actively dreaming of trashing the manuscript and giving them their manuscript back.’ And he goes, ‘You’re almost done.’”

Ripa announced plans to write her first book in July 2021. Live Wire will also include stories about her marriage to Mark Consuelos. They are parents to Michael, 24, Lola, 20, and Joaquin, 19.