Kelly Ripa Absent From 'Live With Kelly and Mark' AGAIN, Sends Husband and Anderson Cooper Phallic Photo of Mushrooms

Kelly Ripa was missing in action once again during the Thursday, July 27, episode of Live with Kelly and Mark — again. However, she made sure to appear — just in a different way.

During the gab session, Mark Consuelos asked Anderson Cooper, Ripa's pal who was filling in for her, if he likes mushrooms.

“No, I don’t [eat mushrooms]. I’m a picky eater. I will not say this in front of my children. They eat mushrooms so I’m thrilled about that,” Cooper replied. “I find mushrooms interesting. They’re like weird, freaky things.”

Cooper said the reason he's not a fan is because he read somewhere that fungi "talk to each other," which left him "suspicious" of the food altogether.

The Riverdale star, 52, then showed the audience a NSFW photo Ripa, 52, sent him before the show started, which showed two phallic-looking mushrooms growing somewhere.

“Kelly was taking a walk yesterday and she sent this to us today — just for you and me on the show today,” he told Cooper, who was floored when he saw the photo. “She was thinking of us. New York City mushrooms.”

As OK! previously reported, the blonde beauty was nowhere to be found one week ago, and Maria Menounos ended up taking her seat alongside Consuelos.

The actor informed the audience that his wife was "out on assignment" — just days after she joked about winning the lottery and not making it into work anymore.

"Listen, just so you know, I probably won't be here tomorrow or forever because I'm going to hit the $900 million Powerball," she declared. "Nobody will even notice I'm gone. They'll just think I've had work done."

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In the past, Ripa has been open about her desire to step down at some point from the show.

“I don’t want to put a timeline on it, but I do believe there is a great opportunity to get two younger people and start training them, because I like seamless transitions,” she told Variety earlier this year. “However long it takes to get two people up and ready is how long we’ll be there.”