I’ve sort of been indifferent to Kelly Ripa over the past handful of years, although I do remember the abrupt change in mood (from heavy sarcasm to infinite bubbliness) when Kelly took over “Live!” hosting duties from Kathie Lee Gifford eleven years ago. Ugh, that makes me feel rather old. Anyway, Kelly is now the sole permanent host of “Live!” since Regis Philbin blindsided her with a retirement announcement, which may or not have been motivated by money and respect. Interestingly enough, Howie Mandel (after co-hosting last week) is being floated as a possible replacement for Regis, but Howie himself insists that “[I]t’s [only] a rumor” and that Regis is “irreplaceable.” God, I love Howie. While I didn’t see him co-host last week, I recall him being quite endearing when he co-hosted with Kathie Lee. Again, I’m aging myself here.

Anyway, Kelly covers the March issue of Good Housekeeping to talk about balancing “Live!” with family life, which includes raising three children (aged 9-14) and maintaining her marriage to former soap (co-)star and current reality show host Mark Consuelos. Basically, Kelly gushes all about Mark and seems a little bit smug about her marriage, which always throws up roadblocks from a believablity perspective. Back in 2007, there was talk of trouble in the marriage, but Kelly and Mark seem to have weathered the storm. Maybe this one’s for real?

On Mark Consuelos: “He’s kind of awesome. I think he makes me better. He makes everything in our lives better.”

Her Marriage Isn’t Perfect: “We argue about children, discipline, homework, good-cop/bad-cop. He says he’s the bad cop and I’m the good cop, but really they associate him with fun and after-school activities. They associate me with inoculations, X-rays, and stitches. He’s more apt to dole out discipline, but my punishments are real. I’ll take away my son’s iPod if he’s fresh. When we’re traveling, Mark will say, ‘If you don’t stop, I’m going to have the pilot turn this plane around.’ I’ll whisper to him, ‘They know you can’t do that. The airline isn’t going to turn this plane around because you’re punishing the kids. You need to come up with something real.’”

On Being A Wife: “I make his coffee every day. I cook him breakfast in bed every weekend: scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, wheat toast, and coffee with cream. That’s what he wants. And I serve it to him on a tray. I don’t give him a hard time about seeing his friends. Or for doing things independently, like taking a weekend biking trip with his racing friends. He doesn’t need to take me everywhere or do everything with me. I’m very much about us having our own separate time. And I don’t give him a hard time about not doing things around the house, like taking out the trash.”

On Exercise: “I work out every day. It’s part of my life. That’s one of the benefits of having kids in school full-time. I’m usually done with work around 11 A.M., so I have time before I pick the kids up from school. I do it more for my insides than my outside, but the outside gets a nice benefit, too. I feel like my mind is a little quieter when I exercise. And I don’t have the best family history heart-wise, so I really try to keep my heart strong. I work out with a trainer three days a week. We do what I would call cardio ballet and power yoga. I take spinning classes, which I love, and I run.”

On Couple Time “After the kids go to bed, we have a couple of hours when it’s just us. We either talk about the day or watch one of our favorite TV shows. Otherwise, there’d be no time. We used to go away, just the two of us, for three days to celebrate our anniversary every year. I can’t remember the last time we did that. It just became too much to climb out from under the amount of homework that would pile up! Maybe when the kids are a little bit older, we’ll start again. We started having kids young, so when they leave the house, we’ll still be young enough to enjoy it. Of course, thinking about that makes me panic. I can’t even let myself go there.”

On Having It All: “I’m like a regular full-time mom; I just happen to work for a couple of hours while the kids are at school. I take them to all their activities. Mark is usually the later one home from work, around 6:00 P.M. We definitely share in the household chores. I do have a cleaning lady who comes and helps me, because I can’t be married to somebody who’s as OCD-neat-freakish and germaphobic as Mark Conseulos and do it myself. I need a person in there with a hazmat suit to spray bleach all over the place.”

[From Good Housekeeping]

Okay, so Kelly is slightly out of touch with reality because I think most of us would love the chance to make millions of dollars for a few hours of morning work on weekdays. She also has a cleaning lady, which frees her up quite a bit from the domestic drudgery that most “regular full-time mom” types have no choice but with to deal. Then again, most celebrities don’t clean their own toilets, so I can’t rip on Kelly for that. It’s nice that she enjoys serving Mark breakfast in bed, but if I were her, I’d totally make Mark take the trash out to the curb. It’s the least a guy can do.

Photos courtesy of WENN and Good Housekeeping

When you hear that someone used the T word, you think twat, right? That’s the first word that came to mind for me, because it’s like the PG-13 version of c*nt, and that’s the C word. Only Neil Patrick Harris said another T word, one that is considered offensive to members of the LGBT community, “Tranny.” Harris was co-hosting “Live With Kelly” last Thursday when he took part in a science segment in which he inhaled a gas called sulfur hexafluoride, which makes your voice sound very deep, kind of like helium but with the opposite effect. After his voice got all deep, Harris did the “put the lotion in the basket” line from Silence of the Lambs (at 2:05). A little later he said “I’ve never sounded more like a tranny in my life.” It made sense in context, since the character who said that was a transvestite. Harris later apologized on Twitter. Not everyone knows that “Tranny” is an offensive word, but you would expect that Harris would realize that he shouldn’t say it on television. He did and he said sorry for it.

How I Met Your Mother’s Neil Patrick Harris was guest-hosting on Live With Kelly Thursday with special guest Science Bob, and during their fun experiment, NPH accidentally said the T-word.

And what word might that be, you ask?

“Tranny.”

Science Bob had Kelly Ripa and the actor inhale sulfur hexafluoride, or as he calls it “helium’s evil twin,” which makes your voice sound extremely deep.

While we laughed listening to Ripa’s Darth Vader impersonation and Harris’ Buffalo Bill infamous quote from The Silence of the Lambs, “Put the lotion in the basket,” things got a little awkward when he followed with, “I’ve never sounded more like a tranny in my life.”

Knowing that he might get some backlash, the actor tweeted, “Truly sorry for saying the word ‘tranny’ on Live this week. Twice! Should have been more thoughtful. Didn’t at all mean to offend.”

[From E! Online]

This reminds me of when Jennifer Aniston called herself the R word on television. They’re words that used to be usually casually, but that are iffy now. The T word can be used in a joking way too. I found this video where a transgendered person said that “tranny” is just slang and she doesn’t find it offensive. Others say that it’s the context in which the word is used. Unlike Aniston, Harris realized his mistake and he apologized pretty quickly though. It seems like a non-issue.

Also, I love how Kelly doesn’t know the difference between a compound and an element and asks if inhaling some gas will make her gain weight.

Here are some photos of Neil and his partner, David Burtka, at The Trevor Project’s 2011 Trevor Live event yesterday. (Kaiser covered LeAnn Rimes’ dress earlier.) They look good! They’re also shown on 11/12 at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center’s 40th anniversary auction. Credit: Nikki Nelson/WENN.com

In last week’s National Enquirer, there was a longer story about Regis Philbin’s sudden resignation from Regis & Kelly. According to the Enquirer’s sources, it was all a Regis hissy fit over money. As it so happens, the Enquirer’s sources seem pretty on-target. PopEater reports that Regis is leaving in huff for a combination of reasons, some of which include a contract renegotiation that went bad. Also a factor: Regis thinks he’s God‘s gift, but no one really gives a crap.

There’s a new twist in the surprise departure of Regis Philbin from ‘Live With Regis and Kelly,’ and as you’d expect, it centers around money. Loads of money. Regis fired his longtime manager, Jim Griffin, right after telling viewers he was quitting, and sources say he made the move because he was insulted by a proposed pay cut.

According to TMZ sources, Regis makes between $18 and $20 million a year. I’m told it’s a bit less than that, but regardless, an insider tells me that’s “more than double” what Kelly Ripa receives. ABC producers wanted an adjustment for Regis’ new contract, and Jim Griffin went to work on negotiations.

“Regis was insulted by the offer he got and chose to leave, blaming his agent on his way out,” a television exec tells me. “The problem is the world has changed around this legend. Regis thinks he’s being pushed out for someone they can pay peanuts to. The problem is if he thinks he’s going to get anywhere near that sort of money doing another show he should think again.”

Regis, 79, announced the news on last Tuesday’s episode of the hit show, saying that he will leave the program sometime in late summer.

He apparently told Kelly about his decision 15 minutes before they went on air. While initially she was said to be stunned, she is now apparently furious and feels he showed a total lack of respect for her.

An insider with knowledge of the situation tells me that ABC wanted to retain Regis but also felt that Kelly had proven during his medical leaves and frequent days off that she could thrive without him.

“The writing was on the wall when Regis got sick and the show’s ratings did not decline,” my source says. “When it came time to renegotiate his contract again, the producers knew the show would survive with or without him and offered him way less than the multimillions he had become accustomed to.”

Regis has said he’s not quitting television, just the show he’s helmed since 1983. ABC will announce his replacement in the coming months.

I was at ABC studios in New York just hours after Regis made his announcement and an executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity told me that producers have been “unofficially testing” out possible replacements for a while, but that they haven’t necessarily found Kelly’s partner yet.

“The show can definitely survive without Regis if they find Kelly the right new co-host,” an ABC exec tells me. “For some time they have been unofficially testing out potential replacements on the show. Neil Patrick Harris, Anderson Cooper and even Kelly’s husband, Mark, have filled in; yet no one was as good as Regis.”

[From PopEater's Rob Shuter]

It’s interesting that Kelly is allegedly pissed. It’s also interesting that Regis thinks he’s the biggest thing ever and the executives are like “So, are you going to be around later? Because we’re auditioning your replacement.” You knew it was going to be bad when just after Regis announced his retirement, there were already several big names being floated as a replacement. I really like the idea of Anderson Cooper with Kelly – they are really funny and cute together. Mark would be okay… but Kelly needs someone she can be bitchy and sassy with. That’s Anderson. Neil Patrick Harris too, maybe.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

When Regis Philbin announced his retirement after 28 years as a talk show host it came as a surprise to the nation, but was also reportedly a surprise to his co-host of nearly ten years, Kelly Ripa. According to TMZ, Kelly found out just 15 minutes before Regis announced it on the air, because he was afraid if he told anyone ahead of time the news would leak. That makes it sound like these two don’t have the best relationship, doesn’t it?

Sources connected with “Live! with Regis & Kelly” tell TMZ … Regis Philbin blindsided Kelly Ripa with his retirement announcement today … telling her less than 15 minutes before they went on the air.

We’re told Kelly was “stunned” that Regis didn’t tell her well in advance. But one source connected with the show tells us, “She wasn’t upset.”

Our sources say Regis felt if he talked about it before making the announcement, it would have leaked out.

[From TMZ]

You could tell by Kelly’s body language during Regis’ announcement that she was still reeling from the news. (The clip is above.) One person that Regis did inform well ahead of his announcement is his former co-host Kathie Lee Gifford. In a statement Gifford said that Regis has been talking about retiring for months. Burn to Kelly and that “leak” theory.

“We try to have dinner like every six weeks or something and the last couple of times that we had dinner he was talking very openly with me about it,” Kathie Lee, who co-hosted with Regis for 15 years, told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Tuesday. “He said, ‘I think it’s going to be at the end of this contract year,’ which would be September 2011, so that’s exactly what it’s going to be.”

Regis’ 80th birthday is right around the corner, but according to Kathie Lee, he’s won’t be slowing down in the least.

“He’s going to have a landmark birthday in August, It’s a new beginning for him… I don’t think Reg will ever retire,” she continued. “He loves what he does so much. But he can work in a lot of different ways and he can do it on his own schedule.

“You get tired of the sameness of something and as we age, you get tired of having to be on someone else’s schedule all the time,” Kathie Lee continued. “And even though he lives across the street from the studio, sometimes I know winters get to him I think he would rather be in sunny Florida or California and I’ve got a feeling he’s got some stuff up his sleeve.”

[From Access Hollywood]

Kathie Lee is also on a national talkshow, with Hoda on The Today Show, so if Regis told Kathie Lee that means he trusts her to keep a secret, unlike Kelly.

There’s speculation as to who would replace Regis on the show. Popeater’s Rob Schuter mentions that the success of Kathie Lee and Hoda points to a female co-host possibly taking Regis’ place. They’re potentially looking at someone around Kelly’s age so that they can continue to have the same two hosts for a decade or more. I hope they don’t consider Mark Consuelo. He seems like a decent guy, but the couple of times he cohosted with Kelly I was annoyed by their dumb couples banter.

Photos are from 9/22/10. Credit: WENN.com

We normally don’t cover the new issue releases of Good Housekeeping, but they sent us the high-resolution cover image of Kelly Ripa’s November cover, plus the interview, so why not? I think she’s the cover girl because she just turned 40 years old, and they want to make her the next poster girl for The Girl Next Door Who Is Fabulous At 40! Now, I don’t categorically hate Kelly. Do I think she might have some issues? Sure. She’s pretty annoying, she’s not the best interviewer, and I always end up feeling for her husband because he has to put up with her. But, on the bright side, she’s really not that bad, she’s very flirty and fun, and she’s got that kind of relentless optimism that I could never achieve, but I admire in others. The full interview is here – it’s written as a day-in-the-life piece, and they go through Kelly’s daily craziness in detail, with additional comments by her and the people around her. Here are some excerpts:

In the November issue of Good Housekeeping (on sale Oct 12), Kelly Ripa, America’s most energetic mom, shares how she recharges her batteries, the get happy secret her husband taught her and what she’s most grateful for this holiday season. She may have become famous by sharing her morning cup of coffee with millions of Americans, but she doesn’t think her daily routine is all that unique. “I’m like any working mom,” the TV star insists. “When I’m at work, I’m remembering what I forgot to do for the kids, and when I’m with the kids, I’m remembering what I forgot to do at work. And so, I’m constantly in a state of guilt and distraction.”

Date Night with Husband Mark Consuelos – “a little bump and tickle”
“We carve out time for ourselves. I think we’re better parents because date night gives us something to look forward to, a night where we’re not saying, ‘Put that down, stop touching her, don’t spill that.’ Sometimes we’ll put the kids to bed early and watch Jersey Shore on DVR. It can be that simple, just the two of us, alone, one day a week, for dinner and hijinks…a little bump and tickle. Woo-hoo! I’m 40. I can say that now.”

Sees Her Husband in an Avatar ‘I see you’ Way
“I think about my husband in the middle of the day because I love him and I can’t wait to see him. He is my best friend. Nobody knows me the way he knows me. We’ve seen each other in an Avatar, ‘I see you’ way.”

Vegas Wedding Okay for Ripa, but Not Her Daughter
“People assume that when you get married in Vegas, you go in willy-nilly. We wanted to get married and start our lives together, and we didn’t take it any less seriously than anybody who has a huge wedding. It’s the marriage that’s important, not the wedding. But, I will kill my daughter if she runs off and elopes, because I want to have a big party.”

Exercising Too Much?
“It’s my antidote for everything. If I feel any sort of emotional upheaval, I go for a jog and I feel better.”

Thanksgiving Tradition – Can’t Replace the Doughboy
“I’m a very health-conscious person; I try to really do what’s right for my kids, but I don’t think you can replace the Pillsbury Doughboy.”

[From Good Housekeeping]

The “bump and tickle” comment annoys me, but I like what she said about eloping and how it might have been good enough for her, but it won’t be good enough for her daughter. I also like what she says about the holidays and eating, and it’s clear that she’s not one of those mothers (cough, Gwyneth) who pushes her own food issues onto her children. In another part of the interview, Kelly explains how no matter what, every night she and Mark and the kids have dinner together: “Sometimes it’s 6:30, sometimes 7:30, sometimes it’s going to be pizza or takeout. It’s important to have that time together as a family. We have some very deep conversations. Mark and I are from the generation where children were seen and not heard, but my kids have great insights and their own opinions about everything.” Nice. But I worry about her exercise habits – she’s gotten so, so skinny.

Header: Cover courtesy of Good Housekeeping.

Kelly Ripa is one of those people I can’t help but like, even though she’s usually not my type of girl. I like them more hardcore, but Kelly does have some edge. She’s so hardcore she got a new tattoo on her wrist. It’s a really ugly cursive tattoo of “Consuelos” – her married name. She and Mark have been married for 13 years, and this is her second tattoo (that we know of). Her first was the rose thingie that she has on her ankle, which she got when she was 19 years old, and which she’s said she regrets. She got this new one done in Brooklyn! Hardcore. She told the “Live With Regis and Kelly” audience that the tattoo was “a little inky but it will heal.”

I think it’s kind of cool that Kelly got the tattoo in general, even though I think the cursive is a little ugly. But it’s a nice gesture, and I bet Mark likes it. Kelly and Mark seem to have a really solid marriage, and it’s not like she got a tattoo of some dude’s name that she’d been dating for two weeks. Now that would have been hardcore.

Images courtesy of Huffington Post.

Mom of three and talk show hostess Kelly Ripa, 38, looks super fit and about half her age. She’s currently in Miami with her family shooting “Live! With Regis and Kelly.” That’s most people’s dream job – where you get to take off for a week to somewhere warm and sunny, drink fruity cocktails and swim in the pool, and go to work for an hour or two in the morning.

Kelly Ripa along with her husband, Mark Consuelos, and three children Michael, Lola and Joaquin make the most of a day off by the pool. Ripa appears to have it all, a fantastic figure, a happy family and a dream job. Kelly is currently in Miami to film her TV show with Regis Philbin. Kelly spent the day sunbathing and playing with her family in the pool and drinking cocktails. Kelly showed off her trim figure in a blue bikini and re-encated her dolphin encouter from the previous day with her two sons who pretended to be dolphins as she mimicked the commands she learned. Kelly and Mark also shared a few tender moments in between playing with the kids.

[From Mavrix Photo]

Kelly really does look amazing. She’s been on the cover of tons of fitness magazines – her abs are insane. And her belly button – an outie, which she’s constantly talking about – is also constantly changing on the cover of all those magazines. Not surprisingly, she has an intense workout routine. Two years ago she quit smoking, and used exercise to help deal with her cravings. After getting a few complements she was hooked.

In the past year, Kelly Ripa stuck to a serious exercise program. She’s also learning to cook, but the thing she’s most proud of — besides getting in her best shape ever — is snuffing out her hidden unhealthy habit: smoking. What was her trick? She started exercising five times a week. “It wasn’t easy. In fact, I almost gave up in the beginning. But after a couple of weeks someone told me how great my arms looked! I’m so vain, that’s all it took. I was hooked,” she explains…

… Kelly Ripa’s Workout: She uses a resistance tube with handles, a medicine ball, a pair of 3- to 5-pound dumbbells, a stability ball, and a jump rope. The first exercise of her workout is described below; you can see the rest here.

Squat and rotation row – works butt, legs, back, and biceps. Anchor a handled resistance tube to a sturdy object close to the ground and grasp one handle with left hand, arm straight, and rotate arm clockwise until palm faces out.

Lower into a deep squat, feet shoulder-width apart, knees aligned over toes, right hand resting on hip. Rise up and rotate arm inward until palm faces up, as you pull handle toward ribs. Return to starting position and repeat Do 2 sets of 12 to 15 reps on each side.

Kelly Ripa’s 20-minute cardio Rx: Alternate jumping rope with 30 seconds of jumping jacks. Start with 20 jump rope revolutions and increase by 20 after each round of jacks until you reach 100. Then reduce by 20 until you’re back down to 20. Repeat twice.

[From ifitandhealthy.com]

That’s pretty hardcore. Kelly told Fitness magazine that she only started exercising at age 37. They talk like she did this total body transformation, and while she does look exceptional, I never remember her looking anything less than phenomenal. But it is inspirational to know you can start exercising at any age and turn it into a habit you can really love.

The only area where I’d argue Kelly is lacking is her diet. It seems incredibly restrictive to me.

“Now my family tries to eat smaller amounts more often. I’m big on grazing,” says Kelly. She is not big, however, on breakfast. Instead, she always begins her day with coffee at home and then a cup of Starbucks regular coffee with half and half during the show.

Her first meal of the day is at 10 a.m.— usually a salad and a small turkey sandwich or a BLT (with turkey bacon) on whole-wheat bread. Her afternoon snack is a handful of almonds and a pear. For dinner she eats salads and fresh veggies with smaller servings of fish or steak.

[From ifitandhealthy.com]

It doesn’t sound like her meals are so small that they’re worrisome, but I think most of us would need more food than that in order to function and not be insanely cranky. She’s really only eating two meals and a snack, so you’d think at least one more meal would be a good idea, especially with all that exercise.

But you can’t argue that she isn’t looking phenomenal – these pictures prove it.

Here’s Kelly in Miami yesterday. Images thanks to Mavrix.

Every year, Parade reveals its list of top celebrity earners in its “What People Earn” issue. This year, the list includes everyone from Jennifer Aniston ($27 million) to Tiger Woods ($110 million) and John Grisham ($25 million). Check out the full compilation below:

Jennifer Aniston $27 million
Alex Rodriguez $34 million
Kelly Ripa $8 million
Britney Spears $2.25 million
Patrick Drempsey $3.5
Tiger Woods $110 million
John Grisham $25 million
Rod Blagojevich $177,400
Will Ferrell $31 million
Sarah Palin $125,000
Chelsey Sullenberger $100,000
Beyonce $80 million
Taylor Swift $5.5 million
Carolyn Murphy $4.5 million
Jay-Z $82 million
Barbie $3.3 million
Michael Bloomberg $1 million
Tyler Perry $125 million
Danica Patrick $7 million
Rush Limbaugh $38 million
Tina Fey $4.6 million

from [Parade]

Parade doesn’t do a good job of explaining how they came to these numbers; I assume they are 2008 figures, and take into account the salaries the celebrities were supposed to receive directly (that is, no royalties were taken into consideration).

There are some surprises on the list, including Britney Spears’ lowly $2.25 million (though this may be due to her meltdown and absence from the entertainment scene last year). Even Taylor Swift was able to beat out Britney’s earnings. And I know Tyler Perry’s movies do well at the box office, but geez. $125 million is a lot of dough.

And talk about a power couple: Beyonce’s $80 million along with Jay-Z’s $82 million should make them a nice little nest egg when, and if, they decide to retire.

Say what you will about whether or not celebrities deserve the salaries they get; it’s always interesting to be able to compare the salaries of the celebrities themselves.

Photo credit: PRPhotos

This week’s National Enquirer is running an exclusive cover story that Kelly Ripa and her hot husband of 12 years, Mark Consuelos, have split. Cover Awards points out that it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not because “Split covers always work.” If you look at what the Enquirer is using on the cover as the evidence for the story, it sounds like one of them could just have gone on a business trip. The tabloids are always running “so and so walks out” stories based on the fact that a couple necessarily traveled separately. Usually the Enquirer has solid sources, but that doesn’t mean they’re above pulling the same tricks that the other tabloids use to move copies.

Ripa’s rep says it’s not true, and he uses wording that sounds like it’s straight from the mom of three. I use that “you should be ashamed” line on my four year old all the time:

“There is no truth to the story. Their marriage continues to be quite healthy, and the National Enquirer should be ashamed for fabricating such an untruthful story,” Ripa’s spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, told PEOPLE Wednesday, after the paper reported the couple have split.

“Their story is 100 percent false,” Rosenfield added.

The couple’s lawyer, Michael Zweig, has demanded a “full public retraction” of the story and an apology from the paper.

On Monday, Ripa and Consuelos walked hand-in-hand down the red carpet at the New York premiere of the new movie Cadillac Records.

[From People]

This isn’t the first time that Ripa and Consuelos’ 12 year marriage was said to be in trouble. Last year there were reports that Conseulos was flirting with a co-star, making Ripa jealous and upset. The two were also said to be arguing over money at the time. Whatever happened, they’re still together and dealing with it. They have three children, Michael, 11, Lola, 7, and Joaquin, 5. It must not be easy to balance a family life with two careers, even with all the help they’re sure to have.

Kelly and Mark are shown at the premiere of Cadillac Records on 12/1/08. Credit: WENN

I have to admit, I spend a lot of time thinking about Kelly Ripa’s belly button. To be frank, it haunts me. So I was really relieved to find out that someone over at the Huffington Post is clearly just as obsessed as I am. One of their writers has pointed out that Ripa’s navel has got quite the split personality. Sometimes it’s an innie, sometimes it’s an outtie, and other times it’s a halvsie. You can see how this would be haunting.

And I guarantee you that after you see the photographic evidence, you’re probably going to become obsessed with the state of Ripa’s belly button too. Wondering if it’s poking out boldly or curled up inside itself like a scared turtle. So you’ve been warned.

Kelly Ripa, 38 on Thursday and a mom of three, graces the November cover of Shape magazine in an orange bikini. Look familiar? She was also on the cover of Shape last May in a orangey-red bikini. In between, she broke up the Shape orange bikini covers with a gold bikini on the cover of Fitness. But, she only shared three top workout moves with the readers of Fitness, according to the cover. Shape reader got SIX the first time around.

Also of note: across the covers, she has three different belly buttons. Ripa, an outspoken outtie who jokes about getting her belly button stuck in zippers on “Live with Regis and Kelly” had it airbrushed off completely for last year’s Shape, but this time they just softened it on the cover. Below are the three covers and an un-airbrushed picture of her bellybutton while on a family vacation.

[From the Huffington Post]

I’m pretty upset too. While I am personally an innie and do not fully understand the struggles an outtie must live with in an innie world, I respect anyone who embraces their body for what it is. But now Ripa’s just sending out mixed messages. “Ooooh, I’m belly button proud! Oh wait, no I’m not, photoshop that bastard down!” I mean pick a position and stick with it. I cannot even imagine how this kind of back and forth is going to mess with Ripa’s children. Scratch that. How it’s going to mess with America’s children.

I really hope she makes some kind of formal, regretful statement and issues a sincere apology to the other outties. And then learns to love her flawed, flawed stomach.

Here’s Kelly’s ever-evolving belly button. The first image is from the November Shape; the second is from the May 2007 Shape; the third is from the Dec 2007 Fitness; and the last is an un-retouched photo of Ripa in a bikini.