Biography
This page uses content from the Kelly Ripa biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Kelly Maria Ripa (born October 2, 1970 in Stratford, New Jersey) is an American actress and talk show host. Since February 2001, she has served as the co-host of Live with Regis and Kelly, alongside Regis Philbin. She is also known for her acting on All My Children and Hope & Faith, both television series on ABC.
Biography
Kelly Ripa was born to an Italian father and a mother of Irish and Italian descent[1]. While attending Eastern High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, Ripa began acting in high school plays. This led to roles at local theaters and a regular spot on the USA Network's Dance Party USA – an afternoon teen music program. She was then cast as gothic teen turned suffering heroine Hayley Vaughan on the soap opera All My Children. Starting on the show in 1990, the character of Hayley quickly drew a large following.
In early 1995 her character was paired with Mark Consuelos' character, Mateo Santos. A romance blossomed between the castmates, with Ripa and Consuelos eloping in LAs Vegas on 1 May 1996. Eventually, they had three children — Michael Joseph Consuelos, born June 2, 1997; Lola Grace Consuelos, born June 16, 2001; and Joaquin Antonio Consuelos, born February 24, 2003. In a mutual decision, the couple left All My Children in December 2002.
In September 2003, Ripa was a co-star (with Faith Ford) on her first sitcom, Hope & Faith. She portrayed Faith, a former soap star whose character is killed off and who moves in with her sister Hope's family, creating havoc for the family and often antagonizing Hope and her husband, Charlie. Hope & Faith was not renewed for a fourth season in May 2006 after the 2005-2006 season saw a significant decline in ratings.
Self-parody
On Saturday Night Live skits about Live with Regis and Kelly, the role of Kelly Ripa is played by Amy Poehler. When Ripa hosted SNL in November 2003, in the Live with Regis and Kelly skit, Poehler appeared as Ripa and Ripa as Angelina Jolie. In another skit, Ripa spoofed the ubiquitous hair coloring ads in which she has appeared (in this skit, Ripa prefers Tressant Suprême because a main ingredient is crack cocaine, thus explaining her stereotypical "peppy" persona). In another episode, she had a cameo as herself in a skit about Bangkok, Thailand with Ben Affleck. She also appeared in an opening skit with Steve Martin as the host, where they have dinner until Martin finds out that Alec Baldwin is about to host the show again.
In Hope & Faith, sometimes Regis Philbin or others connected with her actual professional life would be brought into an episode. The scripts would lampoon Ripa herself, with jokes that required knowledge of her real-life career, as well as furthering the storyline about Faith, her narcissistic character on the show.
She has also made fun of herself on Family Guy, voicing herself. In the episode "Family Guy Viewer Mail #1", Peter Griffin found a genie in a beer bottle and his first wish was to see Kelly Ripa behind the scenes. The genie opened a magic window onto Ripa's Live with Regis and Kelly dressing room, showing Ripa ripping off her human face to show an ugly alien face, then going to a tied-up human, removing his heart and eating it.
The "Hand Covering Mouth" Incident
On November 17, 2006, Ripa was involved in some controversy when American Idol star Clay Aiken co-hosted with Ripa on Live. During an interview with Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke, winners of the third season of Dancing with the Stars, Aiken was frustrated that Ripa was not allowing him to ask the questions on his cue card. In an attempt to speak, Aiken jokingly put his hand over Ripa's mouth. She was not happy about it, and Aiken quickly pulled his hand away asking, "Is that a no no?" "Oh, that's a no no," replied Ripa, and went on to say, "I don't know where that hand has been, honey." On the following Live show on November 20, 2006, Ripa explained to Regis Philbin that she thought Aiken was rude and disrespectful, even if he was kidding. [2]
Some viewers and TV entertainment shows such as The Insider and Entertainment Tonight have pointed out what they deem as hypocrisy in Ripa's statements regarding the incident, since she has put her hand over Philbin's mouth several times on Live, and Simon Cowell did the same thing to her on an earlier show, with no comment from her. Ripa explained on a later show that Aiken had been shaking hands with people in the audience before the interview, and Ripa was afraid of contracting germs during cold and flu season. Ripa may have believed the statements she made, but they were construed by others as absurd. [3]
Rosie O'Donnell later expressed outrage on The View, stating to her co-hosts, "To me that's a homophobic remark. If that was a straight man, if that was a cute man, if that was a guy that she didn't question his sexuality, she would have said a different thing." [4] O'Donnell apparently said this without knowing that Aiken has said several times publically he is not gay and has since refused to answer further questions about his private life, stating that "people are going to believe what they want". Ripa phoned in to defend her actions, saying her remarks did not come from homophobia, but rather from germaphobia. [5]
Aiken has not commented on the incident, except to send flowers to Ripa, which she accepted. Aiken spoofed the incident while presenting an award with Tori Spelling at the American Music Awards. As Aiken was presenting, Spelling put her hand over Aiken's mouth and then said "And I'll tell you where that hand has been later." [6]
Awards and honors
Ripa won three Soap Opera Digest Awards for playing Hayley on All My Children in 1996, 1998 & 2000. She has been nominated for 8 Daytime Emmy Awards. Three of these nominations were for playing Hayley on All My Children, and 5 were for performing hosting duties alongside Regis.
In April 2006, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special for co-hosting the 2005 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade with Regis Philbin and Ryan Seacrest.
On September 15, 2006, Ripa broke the Guinness World Record for custard pie throwing by throwing 24 pies in one minute at Wilmer Valderrama, as part of a Guinness World Record Breaker theme week on Live with Regis and Kelly. She beat the record previously held by NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth the previous day, when he threw 17 pies at Ripa. [7]
Trivia
- Regis refers to Kelly as "Pipa."
- She often vacations in the Hamptons in the summer and in Nevis in the winter with her family.
- She loves to watch reality television, including The Contender, The Bachelor, The Apprentice, Wife Swap, and Survivor.
- She can be heard at the end of Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like a Hole" single, saying "Let's hear it for Nine Inch Nails! Woo! They were good!" The clip was taken from a Nine Inch Nails appearance on Dance Party USA.
- Has been on numerous magazine covers such as People magazine.
- Has been named one of "The 50 Most Beautiful People" on several occasions.
- On Scrubs, the characters have used "Kelly Ripa" as a verb (e.g. "You've been Kelly Ripa'd") to describe the act of intentionally and temporarily misleading someone for humorous effect, referencing something commonly done by Ripa on her show.
- Is a big Philadelphia Eagles fan.
- Is a fan of The View.
- Like Regis, Kelly is not well-versed in using computers; she asks her husband for assistance.
- As stated on her show, Regis and Kelly - she and husband, Mark, named their third child, Joaquin, after Joaquin Phoenix because he is her favorite actor and celebrity crush - 2006
- Known for her admiration of Madonna.
- Kelly's father, Joseph Ripa, is a freeholder for Camden County, New Jersey.
References
External links
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