On a brand new episode of Not Skinny But Not Fat, Amanda Hirsch got to sit down with Kelly Ripa. During their chat, Kelly not only talked all about her new tell-all book, Live Wire, but also responded to all those late Regis Philbin headlines, and more.
LISTEN NOW: LIVE WIRE w/ Kelly Ripa!
Surprised by the success of her book, now a New York Times Best Selling author, Kelly explained the downward spiral she went down while awaiting to to hear about the reception of her book.
“I was fully prepared to not be on the list,” she noted, adding “so the only reaction I had was one of devastation. My handy reaction that was stored up was one of disappointment… Like I had talked myself into that headspace.”
Kelly continued, “so when I was on the list I had almost no reaction, everybody was like I think she’s in shock.”
“I was trying to access the happy part of my brain, which seemed inaccessible at that point because I had tucked hope away, and then allowed only possibility of devastation in.” A method Kelly noted utilizes a lot of, "prepare for the worst, and if it’s not as s***ty as you expected then okay good.’”
As for the book, with Kelly noting that her life is only at its half way point, and nowhere near memoir material, she opted to write a collection of essays instead. Written with no ghost writer, exactly as she speaks, with mistakes and all, and no semicolon in sight — and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Later on in the conversation Kelly addressed the current drama surrounding her late former co-host Regis Philbin.
Despite working with him for years on Live with Regis and Kelly, Ripa and Philbin weren’t besties off the sound stage, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have a solid professional relationship. Which we’d like to point out is one of those “universal truths,” because not everyone you work with is gonna be your "bff.”
And as much as the audience would love and expect that, Kelly noted “that’s a hard pressure zone to put on two people.”
Having chemistry during a live taping doesn’t necessarily translate to off-screen hangs. And if it seems that's the case, then clearly both parties are doing their jobs. In Kelly and Regis’ case they seldom spent time together off-camera. However when they did, Kelly remembers them fondly and recalls “they were sone of the best off-camera times of my life.” Noting, “he had this ability to hold court.”
Kelly also went on to say that her addition to the show wasn’t necessarily the correct one. “I take his side in this entire argument. He should not have had to have a host assigned to him. That’s not fair, he paid his dues, and he established this show.”
Going on to note, “It’s hard, two strangers from two completely different generations, putting them together with such different backgrounds…”
That said, through her luck and tenacity, that’s not how the cards fell, and despite not having any previous experience Kelly got the gig and had every intention of making the most of it, which is exactly what she did.
Listen to the rest of the conversation, press play on the full episode above.
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