After more than 35 years, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos say goodbye to the live studio
On the set of Live with Kelly and Mark, the cherished afternoon program taped its last episode at its long-standing Upper West Side studio before moving to a new location downtown, and it was a touching day. On April 1, the final episode was filmed in the former studio.
The show’s iconic background for 37 years was 7 Lincoln Square, which is situated at the intersection of 67th Street and Columbus Avenue. Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford were the first of many adored hosts to call it home throughout the years.
Since joining the program in 2001, Kelly Ripa has stayed consistent despite several co-host changes, including Michael Strahan and Ryan Seacrest after Philbin left in 2011. She and her husband, Mark Consuelos, who joined the show in April 2023, now share hosting responsibilities.
The couple told PEOPLE that the studio has great sentimental significance for them, signaling the end of an era and the start of a new one, despite Consuelos being a more recent addition to the co-host lineup.
“This is where our children grew up,” Consuelos told PEOPLE. “Even as infants, they were always backstage and would frequently come visit mom here.”
The joyful parents of three children, Michael, 27, Lola, 23, and Joaquin, 22, are Ripa and Consuelos, both 54.
“You must keep in mind that I gave birth to my children during a period when maternity leave was not common; we were ill-prepared to deal with that,” she remarked. The good news is that you can work with your children. I was also able to work full-time and be a mother full-time at the same time because they are very considerate of our hours here because it is a live morning television show. This is quite uncommon and something I do not take for granted.
Because it helped bring Ripa and Consuelos back together, the Live studio has much more meaning for them. The pair split up in 1996 before they were wedded. Days later, both were supposed to make an unexpected appearance as surprise guests on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee for a Mother’s Day feature that honored an All My Children fan.
They both ended up on stage despite their best efforts to back out. They realized their error when they unexpectedly reunited. Their relationship was reignited by the meeting, and the very next day Consuelos proposed. They got married after taking a plane to Las Vegas.
According to PEOPLE, Live with Kelly and Mark is one of the last ABC shows to move to 7 Hudson Square, the Walt Disney Company’s recently renovated New York City headquarters.
The View and The Tamron Hall Show have already taken up residence in their new locations at the contemporary complex, which is known as The Robert A. Iger Building. By the end of the year, ABC plans to move Good Morning America, another significant New York program, there as well.
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