Kelly Ripa Makes ‘Riverdale’ Debut in New Preview

Riverdale is currently on its winter break, but fans have already gotten a taste of what to expect when the teen drama returns thanks to a new promo for the show’s next episode.

Along with Archie attempting to make his way to the Canadian border and Veronica potentially sharing a romantic moment with Reggie, Kelly Ripa will be making her debut on the CW show. She will play the mistress of Hiram Lodge, who just so happens to be portrayed by her real-life husband Mark Consuelos.

In a teaser for “Chapter Forty-Four: No Exit,” Ripa can be seen looking scared but determined as she holds a gun in front of her, though it’s not clear who she’s aiming at.

Ripa’s character, Mrs. Mulwray, is described as “confident and tough, she is Hiram Lodge’s alleged mistress. She’s a beautiful, icy, femme fatale who gets caught up in a conspiracy that’s much bigger than she initially realized.”

Titled “No Exit,” the episode is the ninth installment of Riverdale‘s third season, which has so far seen some of the most unconventional plot points the series has ever offered.

While Ripa joked to E! News that she’s been preparing to play her husband’s mistress for years, she was surprised by the script she received.

“I’ve been preparing myself for this for 25 years, so I feel like I’m pretty good at playing a mistress. It’s an unexpected twist though,” she said. “It’s not what you expect. It’s not what I expected. I didn’t get my script until the day before—it’s all very carefully guarded—and my role is not what I expected at all.”

It seems Ripa is such a fan of Riverdale that she even used Consuelos’ TV family for her own family’s Christmas card this year, using a photo of her husband posing with his TV wife and daughter, Marisol Nichols and Camila Mendes, respectively, along with a shot of her actual family (Ripa and Consuelos share three children).

“Like every Christmas card in the history of our family, it was my idea, and I just got tired of fighting with my kids over them sitting down to just take a picture,” Ripa said of the card. “I mean, I start as early as June trying to get sort of a family holiday photo, and it’s always a fight, it’s always a struggle, and I was just looking at my husband’s TV family, and they’re so beautiful, and Camila Mendes and Marisol Nichols are so nice, and they didn’t mind being on our family holiday card, and I said let’s just use the Riverdale family. They look great!”

Riverdale returns to the CW on Jan. 16.

Photo Credit: The CW