Kelly Maria Ripa (born October 2, 1970 in Stratford, New Jersey) is an American actress.
She currently co-hosts (and also is co-executive producer) of Live! With Regis and Kelly (a morning talk show) and also co-stars, with Faith Ford, in Hope and Faith (a sitcom on ABC).
Acting in high school plays 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 noticed and 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 1996. Eventually, they had three children. In a mutual decision, the couple left All My Children.
Kelly Ripa: Self-Parody
On Saturday Night Live skits about Live with Regis and Kelly, the role of Kelly Ripa is often taken by Amy Poehler. When Ripa hosted SNL, in one 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 Suprème because a main ingredient is crack cocaine, thus explaining her stereotypical "peppy" persona). Further in another episode she had a brief 5 second cameo as herself in a skit about Thailand.
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.
Kelly Ripa: Awards
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.
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