Is Kelly Ripa Ready to Retire After 2 Decades on Live? She Says...

For more than 20 years, Kelly Ripa has helped fans kick off their day with Live. 

And the morning show star—who has seen four co-hosts rotate throughout the years—recently explained why she's stuck with it for so long. 

"I think the risk-averse quality I have is probably the reason I stayed with the same job for so long," Kelly, who now hosts the series with husband Mark Consuelos, told Cristina Cuomo in a recent interview for wellness outlet The Purist. "Other offers come along, but I like to stick with what I know."

But that's not to say she'll be at Live forever.

"I am very steadfast in everything I do, and so when you have me, you have me for life," she continued. "Having said that, I don't intend to work at this job for the rest of my life. I do talk about retirement with great interest, but right now I'm very happy, especially working with Mark." 

Kelly first joined the Live family 2001 when she took over for Kathie Lee Gifford and co-hosted with the now late Regis Philbin. After Regis retired in 2011, Michael Strahan hosted with Kelly in 2012 before his sudden departure in 2016 for Good Morning America. The Hope & Faith actress was then joined by Ryan Seacrest, who left in April, making way for Kelly's husband of 27 years to settle in as co-host.

And Kelly—who shares kids Michael, 26; Lola, 22; and Joaquin, 20, with Mark—admits the couple make a pretty good team both on and off the show.

"We met almost 30 years ago working together, and we always had a great working relationship," the 52-year-old, who met Mark on All My Children, told The Purist. "I love Mark more than I can articulate. He's a proper person. He's just a gentleman. He knows who he is. He is confident and kind and unassuming and very humble. He is irreverent. He understands the absurdity, and he finds the humor in everything." 

"Having said that, he's also a very serious person," she added. "He is focused on his family in ways that seem like from another time, and I think that we are a good partnership. We build each other up, and we always have. We are fiercely loyal and extraordinarily protective, and yet we keep each other laughing, at home and at work." 

In fact, Kelly said some of her favorite episodes of Live are the ones that involve her family. 

"Looking back, I'm so blessed because I have my kids, who are now all adults," she explained. "I have these incredible Christmas segments, cooking segments with them throughout the years, from the time they were newborns all the way on up throughout their lives."

And Kelly noted it's fun to reminiscence about past segments.

"Whenever we do flashbacks or we look back in time, I'm reminded of so much," she shared. "I forgot we did that insane cooking segment with a 1-year-old, a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old on the show. I forgot that we did that Science Bob segment with the world's largest foam elephant. I forgot we did a trapeze segment. I don't watch the show. I'm in the show, so I get this window into what our audience is seeing, and I find myself laughing."

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