Where's Kelly Ripa?! Host MIA From 'Live With Kelly and Mark' After Joking About Quitting TV Gig

Kelly Ripa was nowhere to be found on the Thursday, July 20, episode of Live With Kelly and Mark — just a few days after she joked about quitting the TV gig.

During the episode, the blonde beauty's co-host and husband, Mark Consuelos, told the live audience that she as "out on assignment." Instead, Maria Menounos filled in for Ripa.

Earlier this week, Ripa, 52, and Consuelos, 52, spoke about what would happen if either one of them won the lottery.

Since it's been so hot in New York, the actress joked she might not make it into work later this week.

"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."

Consuelos and Menounos then discussed Wednesday night's Powerball, and the latter said she was "really mad" she didn't play because she could have been the one with the winning ticket.

"You know what Kelly said yesterday?" Consuelos said. "Kelly said, 'I won't be seeing you guys tomorrow, because if I win, I'm not showing up.'"

"She would ditch you?" the former entertainment reporter asked.

"Well, she wasn't going to show up to work," the handsome hunk replied.

The athlete then pointed out that Ripa wasn't present, to which Consuelos replied, "She was in bed when I left. She was there. She was going off to do stuff, but wait ... what if she's not home when I get back?"

This isn't the first time Ripa has been absent. On July 14, she was temporarily replaced by her bestie and Bravo star Andy Cohen.

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As OK! previously reported, Ripa has been candid about not continuing with the show at some point down the line.

“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.”