Kelly Ripa Is Back on ‘Live’ After Shocking Disappearance From Show in Recent Weeks 

Kelly Ripa is back! The talk show host made her return to Live With Kelly and Mark on Monday, July 31, after multiple absences from the show. 

Kelly, 52, joined her husband, Mark Consuelos, at the news desk to interview comedian Sebastian Maniscalco. Last week, Mark, 52, held down the fort with guest cohosts as his wife focused on other projects outside of Live. 

Fans of the series raved about Mark’s hilarious banter and segments with fill-in host Anderson Cooper during the July 27 episode of the show. 

“Anderson was so funny today; he made my morning!” one viewer wrote in an Instagram comment after the broadcast. 

Kelly also expressed her gratitude and love for Anderson, 56, by sharing clips from the show on her Instagram Stories with heart emojis. 

“I love how authentic Anderson is on camera!” another viewer penned in a comment. “Makes him adorable.” 

The day after, Deja Vu, the show’s announcer, cohosted the show with Mark. A disclaimer flashed across the screen at the top of the hour to let viewers know that the episode was previously recorded. 

Kelly was missing from the talk show several other times in the past few weeks. During episodes of Live on July 20 and 21, Maria Menounos temporarily replaced Kelly at the news desk. 

Kelly did not immediately reveal the reason behind her absences during recent Live tapings. However, she has been heavily promoting her game show, Generation Gap, on social media. 

The All My Children alum’s shocking disappearances came before it was reported that Kelly and Mark will be taking a break from filming Live for the rest of the summer. Fans of the duo need not fret because new prerecorded episodes will still air in the program’s regular time slot. 

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' Family Has Star Quality! Meet Their 3 Kids

This summer break happens each year for the Live crew. Last season, Kelly and former cohost Ryan Seacrest went on a break from filming and returned for a new season in September. Ryan, 48, marked his final episode of the series on April 14. 

Ryan’s departure ushered in a new era for Live, bringing Mark in as an official cohost for his first episode on April 17. So far, it’s been smooth sailing for Kelly and Mark as they’ve navigated working together on TV as a married couple and their lives away from the cameras.

“We won’t go home and discuss, ‘Oh, what should we talk about tomorrow?’ Because that’s not how we do things here [on the show],” Kelly once said. “It’s more of a spontaneous discussion between two people that have had a full day outside of just discussing host chat.”