The Live With Kelly and Mark host Kelly Ripa recently sat down with producers Jan Schillay and Albert Bianchini and told them what weird thing she splurged on after getting her first paycheck.
The 53-year-old TV and podcast personality revealed her first expensive purchase of her career on the April 24 episode of Ripa’s Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast. Instead of giving her mother, who is now 82, a more conventional gift like a house or jewelry, Ripa disclosed that she used her early earnings to purchase a white upright piano.
Can Kelly Ripa play the piano?
Later on, Bianchini asked if Ripa’s mother played the piano. Ripa mentioned that her grandmother owned a piano and was able to play it, but her mother does not play the instrument. Even though it’s not her mother’s fault, Ripa commented that she and her sister Linda have been taking piano lessons for 180 years but still can’t play the piano.
Ripa stated that her mother changed the house’s decor after her grandmother died, and some items were removed from the house. She explained that as part of the “modernization” and “updating,” her grandmother’s piano was removed.
The morning talk show host suggested that she believes “it was valuable.” Bianchini agreed, “I’m certain it was valuable.” Ripa further mentioned that nothing managed to fill the void after the piano went missing. “Upon my initial purchase, I acquired a white lacquer upright piano,” which she says is a Kimball brand instrument. “White pianos are difficult to come by,” Bianchini added. “That is fantastic.”
Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos, went to the Time 100 gala on Thursday evening because she was selected as one of Time’s most influential people for 2024. Anderson Cooper wrote in a magazine essay that she authored a successful memoir, launched a well-received podcast, and introduced her husband of almost three decades, Mark Consuelos, as a new co-host. Are audiences interested in viewing a contented married couple who have raised three truly well-behaved children? Yes, they do. The ratings have increased, and Kelly is performing at her peak.
About Kelly Ripa and family
Kelly Ripa is a performer, writer, and creator who co-hosts Live with Kelly and Ryan, a syndicated morning chat show, and hosts Generation Gap. Ripa began her career as a dancer on Dancin’ On Air and Dance Party USA and later became popular in the early ’90s when she got her breakthrough role as Hayley Vaughan on ABC’s All My Children.
While working on All My Children, Ripa met her spouse and fellow actor, Mark Consuelos, with whom she shares three kids: Michael, Lola, and Joaquin. Since tying the knot in 1996, the couple has been public about their relationship, sharing romantic posts on Instagram and giving candid interviews.
Kelly attributes her successful career to her parents, who supported her artistic interests. In 2017, she told SJ Magazine that her parents were the cause of her current self. “The behavior you witness on Live with Kelly is simply how I behaved at home.”
Since she was a child, Kelly’s mindset has also been influenced by theirs. “I simply lead a content life.” She expressed her happiness by saying that she is a happy person because both her parents are positive individuals.
Fresh episodes of Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa on SiriusXM are released every Wednesday on the SiriusXM app and other podcast platforms.
ALSO READ: Kelly Ripa Is Named a Disney Legend; Talk Show Host Reacts Saying, ‘It’s So Kind and Overwhelming’
