She filled the coveted vacant seat next to Regis Philbin in 2001.
Now, Kelly Ripa’s reflecting on two decades at her daytime talk show.
Kelly Ripa"never, ever" thought about becoming a morning talk-show mainstay.
Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa co-hosting ‘Live With Regis and Kelly’.Spencer Platt/Newsmakers
“It happened to me by accident,” the onetime soap star, 50, recalls.
In the process, Ripa instantly became a frontrunner to replace Gifford.
“The show had really reached an iconic level of pop culture where everyone knew Regis and Kathie Lee.
David Russell/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
… Everyone was really questioning, could we go on?”
executive producer Michael Gelman, who’s often seen behind the cameras, interacting with the hosts, recalls.
“Kelly immediately lit up the room, and we knew there was something special.
Pawel Kaminski/Disney/ABC Home Entertainment and TV Distribution
She just had that It Factor.”
Perhaps for the better.
“It was just sort of, ‘This is your job now.
Everett Collection
Good luck, and godspeed,” she explains.
“It really is one of those places where they give you autonomy.
Or, ‘c’mon don’t mention…‘whatever.
“I don’t think anybody was even expecting me to be the replacement host.
But one person in particular made it special.
That would be a bad legacy,” she says.
It’s Philbin’s last episode (above) that she remembers perhaps more than any other.
“His final show was significant,” she says.
“We were terrified, all of us.”
And thankfully, it’s been a great decision.”
And that tradition lives on today, thanks to Ripa.
And she brings incredible energy and honesty and candor to the show.
It’s less hosting and more companionship conversation."
“The two of us are partners,” she says.
Their off-screen friendship largely contributes.
Ripa says it’s more than that.
“It’s an interesting dynamic.
I’m very close to her husband as well.
Her actual family husband Mark and children Michael, Lola, and Joaquin.
Her TV audience family.
“It’s a darker look at things, and I’m very excited about it.
It was pitched to us and we were like, ‘We will absolutely produce this.
And we want to be a part of it.’
“[All My Children] is responsible for every singular good thing that has happened in my life.
“It’s from there that I got the talk show.
So it’s truly responsible for every good thing in my life that’s happened to me.”
Andthatis something to talk about.
