Kelly Ripa is talking about her marriage again – nooo. I do like Kelly a lot and thought she was a good replacement after Kathie Lee left “Live!” all those years ago. Remember how Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford used to talk about their marriage all the time, and they even made a silly instructional video series about how to stay strong as a couple? Then in 1997, Frank got caught on videotape while nailing a flight attendant. Somehow they weathered that storm together, but it just goes to show that bragging about one’s marriage (in a very extreme way in this case) can often lead to embarrassment.

In her own way, Kelly has done her fair share of talking up her own marriage to Mark Consuelos. While she’s never done what Kathie Lee did and handed out guidelines that everyone should follow, there’s still some of that bubbling under the surface. As in Kelly discussed how she loves to serve Mark breakfast in bed because it makes him (not her) happy, and Mark has admitted that he’d be perfectly happy living in the 1950s because Kelly conforms to that era quite well in their marriage. Now Kelly is upping the ante by openly admitting that she “worships” Mark, but she’s also discussing what they fight about too. She even talked to People about it. Really:

After nearly 17 years of happy marriage to Mark Consuelos, one thing can still really set off Kelly Ripa.

“I am openly hostile when Mark leaves the toilet seat up,” Ripa, 42, told PEOPLE Tuesday at a private dinner in New York to honor her pal, Bravo star Andy Cohen, and his partnership with the retail site Gilt Man. “I don’t think you get past the little pet peeves.”

“Mark never puts the toilet seat back down, and it irritates me,” she continued. “We still fight about it. But it’s OK to fight about things. We’re secure with each other. I don’t feel like if we have an argument, it will be the end of our lives.”

Although the Live! With Kelly and Michael host would prefer her husband, 42, to kick his habit, “I really do worship Mark,” she said. “I love everything about him, even his annoying habits.”

“He is the person I was meant to be with forever, and I think he feels the same way,” Ripa said. “We really do have quite an allegiance to one another. No matter what, we support each other in everything we do.”

[From People]

Here’s the thing (and I am by no means an expert on marriage, but I don’t think anyone is) — I really feel that differences over “annoying habits” are okay to occasionally fuss over or even just ignore. Fights will happen, and you can’t stop them all. Obviously, larger issues and differences matter much more that little ones like the toilet seat, and everyone has a threshold of bullsh-t that they are willing to tolerate from a spouse. Once you start to really focus on the little stuff though, things will probably fall apart. Like, you can’t micromanage a marriage without breeding resentment.

As for Kelly and Mark, I think they’re fine. She’s happy bringing home millions while still running herself into the ground at home trying to be a perfect 1950s housewife at the same time, and he’s cool with that too. All the same, I don’t understand why anyone would brag about their marriage (like Kelly keeps doing) in a public venue if they’re not trying to prove something to themselves in the process. Facebook friends, I’m looking at you.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

Kelly Ripa is featured in the February issue of Elle (the one with Claire Danes on the cover) to promote (I guess) her long-running gig on “Live!” Can you believe she’s been co-hosting the show for twelve years now? I still remember when she replaced Kathie Lee Gifford; this was back when Kelly was a cute little brunette, and she soon went blonde, but she looks equally pretty either way.

In the interview, Kelly continues to discuss her enduring love of Botox, and she admits that she even gets injections in her armpits to prevent sweating at the gym. I feel like I’ve heard of this practice before, but it seems so strange — don’t people need to sweat to release toxins and cool the body to prevent overheating? I suppose it really doesn’t matter if the rest of one’s body is allowed to sweat, but it’s still weird, right? Kelly also talks about her ultra-traditional relationship with her husband, Mark Consuelos. We’ve previously heard about how Kelly loves to serve Mark breakfast in bed because that’s what he wants, and now Kelly and Mark are talking even more about their “1950s” lifestyle. Here are some excerpts:

She feels like a dork: “No matter how much I try to cool myself up, I’m really dorky. I think that’s why people get me. I look at you, and you remind me of Jemima Kirke. You came in and you were so effortless, with your black jeans and your black blazer and your turtleneck on and your hair was just, like, perfect, and I know–I know–you didn’t have to do anything to get your hair that way, whereas I would have styled my hair for 17 hours and it would still look very much like a Westminster show-dog. No matter how much I try to cool myself up, it’s never going to happen for me. But, like, am I dying to be cool? Yes, I’m dying to be.”

She doesn’t just Botox her face: The spin class is punishing, but Ripa seems to outperform the twentysomethings manically pedaling around her and emerges looking almost like she did when she arrived. “It’s the Botox,” she says, adding that she sometimes gets it in her armpits to avoid sweating. Ripa hasn’t had plastic surgery, but she’s open about the occasional injection. “Every seven months or so my eyelid skin rests on my eyelashes. So I feel like it makes my makeup artist’s life easier, and it makes my eyes look a little more open on TV, which is where I happen to work right now.”

She wants to write too: “I’ve never really planned my career, and it’s led me to where I am now. I also enjoy writing, but will it lead to anything? I don’t know. I’m probably not very good, but lack of talent hasn’t stopped me before.

How she feels about Mark: “I was drawn to Mark because he was positively an alpha male, and I didn’t think I would be drawn to that. But I just worship him. He makes me feel very safe. I actually call [Mark] Desi, because the thing about Desi was that as much attention as Lucy got, Desi was always in charge.”

How Mark feels about Kelly: “We’re superpartners in crime, my wife and I, but I think we’re pretty…we’re pretty…”–and here, he gives up–”Okay, fine. If I were back in the 1950s, I’d be perfectly happy.”

[From Elle]

Exactly what does that mean when Mark says he’d be very pleased in the 1950s with Kelly as his wife? I am assuming that he’s referring to the aforementioned breakfast in bed and being waited on hand and foot, but that seems so unusual when Kelly surely makes more money than he does. Does she rush from work to the gym (for a several hour workout) and then rush home to have enough time to cut the strings on the pot roast as soon as Mark walks through the door? How exhausting to live as if one must really do everything in life.

Incidentally, Kelly and Mark have just put their two-story NYC penthouse on the market for $24,500,000. The Real Estalker has photos, and the place is absolutely gorgeous with five bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, and two kitchens. I wonder why they could possibly be selling an amazing home like that one.

Here’s some photos of Kelly with Michael Strahan and Kelly Ripa at Kids’ Night On Broadway on 1/9. She’s looking a little bit tweaked, sure, but I’m more concerned about her undereye-concealer problem.

Photos courtesy of Elle and WENN

Here are some photos of Kelly Ripa at a recent mega-garage sale (Super Saturday 15) benefitting the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund on 7/28. I really do like Kelly and always have, but I have to admit that she pushes things a bit too far in her quest for perfection. Kelly not only has talked up her role as the “perfect wife” to husband Mark Consuelos because she does such things as serve him breakfast in bed (although I’m still convinced that perhaps they’ve negotiated a “trade” of sorts for such services), but she’s also clearly gone a bit overboard in her quest for fitness perfection. She could use another five pounds or so on that tiny frame is all I’m saying, but Kelly is still so, so cute. Now she’s admitted that she’s a Botox addict too. Is it more surprising that she uses the wrinkle-abating treatment or that she actually admits to doing so?

At 41, Kelly Ripa looks better than most women half her age. And in a new interview she candidly admits that Botox is her secret. Unlike many stars, who claim genetics and a healthy diet is all they need, the television presenter reveals that she will use it “as much as possible.”

She told In Touch magazine: “I work out every day. I don’t overeat. I try to drink water, but I prefer wine, and when all else fails, I get Botox injected right here, right into my forehead as much as possible!”

The “Live with Kelly” host adds that she uses her children, Michael, 15, Lola, 11 and Joaquin, nine, as an indicator for when she needs a top-up from her dermatologist, celebrity favourite Dr Frederic Brandt.

She told the magazine: “It’s when my kids start asking me if I’m mad at them, and I say, ‘Why do you think I’m mad at you?’ They say it’s because I’m frowning. I go, ‘Oh no! I am? I’ll be right back!’”

Despite Ms Ripa’s enthusiasm for the line-erasing injections, Dr Brandt himself says that he is careful not to overdo it. He told In Touch that his goal is to “keep Kelly looking like Kelly.”

It is perhaps for this reason that Ms Ripa loves the doctor so much, going as far as joking that he is her “real husband.”

There is no word on what Ms Ripa’s actual husband, Mark Consuelos, thinks of that statement, but given that the couple have been married since 1996, it is pretty clear that Dr Brandt poses no real threat.

[From Daily Mail]

Honestly? I had no idea Kelly was a Botox girl. Someone really needs to tell Nicole Kidman about Dr. Brandt! It sounds like the injections really are only going into Kelly’s forehead, and it’s not overdone either by any stretch because there are no “shiny” or “bulgy” aftereffects to be seen. Also, Kelly can still move the rest of her face as these pictures clearly attest. Good job, Dr. Brandt.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

Last week, we discussed Kelly Ripa’s Good Housekeeping interview, in which she discussed serving breakfast in bed to husband Mark Consuelos. In response, a lot of you thought that Kelly was perhaps trying too hard to be the “perfect wife” and also legitimately wondered what Mark was possibly doing to keep Kelly happy as well? Perhaps she’s just a classic “people pleaser” and has no problem with picking up the proverbial slack in her marriage, or maybe Mark does things for Kelly that she didn’t feel the need to disclose to the masses. One never knows.

At any rate, Kelly has compiled a “25 Things You Don’t Know About Me” list for Us Weekly, and the list isn’t terribly dramatic; that is, I am not hearing anything that I wouldn’t already suspect about Ripa:

1. I have grey hair.
2. I have insomnia.
3. Wearing makeup makes my face itch.
4. I can read music.
5. Snowshoeing is my favorite sport.
6. Biking is a hobby of mine.
7. Anderson Cooper is my favorite TV personality.
8. Deejaying is my secret passion.
9. I can fly-fish.
10. My 14-year-old son, Michael, is my running partner.
11. I love to do laundry and can get a stain out of almost anything.
12. Going to the ballet is just about my favorite thing.
13. I have three tattoos.
14. I can recite all the lines form the movies Jaws, Mommie Dearest, and The Silence of the Lambs. Not sure why.
15. I’m long-waisted and usually taller than anyone when we’re seated.
16. I’m afraid of heights.
17. I host a nationally syndicated talkshow, but I’m terrified of speaking in front of groups of people.
18. I used to do stand-up comedy.
19. I can juggle.
20. I consider Pepperidge Farm Goldfish to be a food group.
21. For such a small person, I have extremely wide feet.
22. Boxing is my favorite spectator sport.
23. My favorite shows right now are Downton Abbey … and Dance Moms.
24. The higher the heel, the happier I am. I have a pair of 5-inch pumps that I consider my “flats.”
25. My perfect last meal would be pizza and guacamole.

[From Us Weekly, print edition, February 27, 2012]

Okay, I can completely sympathize with Kelly’s long-waisted plight. At least she doesn’t have huge knockers too — then she’d never find a decent shirt fit! Also, the phobia of heights and admission of wide feet is common ground, but she’s not admitting anything more than seemingly a random scattershot checklist with these “25 Things.” So I’m wondering if she’s merely trying to achieve widespread relatability with this list? Perhaps I’m scrutinizing things far too much for a throwaway list, but I want to hear that Kelly Ripa has problems with getting her kids to bed and battling cellulite. I want to learn something — anything — that tells me that she’s not trying too hard to be perfect because, let’s face it, she seems far too good to be true.

Here’s Kelly with the aforementioned “running partner,” her eldest son Michael. She looks way too skinny in this photograph.

By the way, have I mentioned how much Regis Philbin will be missed? I bet he misses the show too.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

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.