PHOTOSKelly Ripa Reveals She's Sober — Here's What We Know About Her Decision To Quit Drinking
Jan. 20 2020, Updated 8:36 p.m. ET
Kelly Ripa revealed she's been sober since Ryan Seacrest became her co-host on the Monday episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan. The TV personality joked that a recent dip in wine sales could be attributed to her decision to quit drinking alcohol.
"They’re saying that Americans bought less wine last year. It’s the first drop in a quarter of a century. Now, I believe this is because I quit drinking, that I caused this dip. I have influenced the market," she told the audience.
She continued, "I’m not saying I’ve driven people out of drinking alcohol, I’m saying I stopped buying wine and there’s a … dip.” Ryan pointed out that he thought the timing was ironic. "I started the show and she quit drinking. What does that tell you?" he quipped.
Kelly, 49, has been vocal about her healthy lifestyle. She opened up about her high-alkaline diet in 2015 and confessed that the way of eating had transformed her lifestyle. "It has changed my life, it’s changed the whole way I think about food. It’s a very manageable cleanse. It’s very manageable. I actually eat much more on this cleanse than I do in my actual life, but it’s what you eat and how you eat it," she told People.
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She continued, "I like to drink coffee. I occasionally will have fish. The alkaline diet is primarily a vegan diet, but I like cream in my coffee. I like to have a glass of wine. So I don’t adhere to it strictly, but when I do a cleanse, it will be seven days, and then I go back to my normal life. But my normal life, like I said, is not that different than the alkaline cleanse.”
Kelly has been married to her former All My Children costar Mark Consuelos since 1996. They share children Michael Joseph, Lola Grace, and Joaquin Antonio. Kelly's television hosting career began when she was chosen as a replacement for Kathy Lee Gifford on Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee.
Regis Philbin wrote about the way in which he discovered Kelly in his autobiography, How I Got This Way. "There was one guest we'd had on with us a few years before who had a certain sparkle. Hers was a natural, quick-witted, unaffected, confident, fun-loving kind of sparkle that both Gelman and I remembered very well. We decided to invite her back, this time to consider her as a possible co-host. So that was when this smiling, petite ball of fire named Kelly Ripa made her return to Live! for a test run at the rotating, up-for-grabs hot seat to my left. And my God, who knew what spontaneous combustion we'd make together?" he recalled.
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