“Live with Kelly and Mark” is officially moving downtown — where all the lights are bright.
The daytime talk show, currently hosted by Kelly Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos, has filmed from its Upper West Side studio at 7 Lincoln Square for the past 37 years.
But that era came to an end on April 1 when the couple aired their final episode from the studio ahead of their move downtown — and it wasn’t an April Fools’ joke.
Ripa has been with the show since 2001, when she replaced Kathie Lee Gifford as co-host alongside Regis Philbin, who was replaced by Michael Strahan in 2011 and Ryan Seacrest in 2017.
Consuelos, who made appearances as a guest in the past, joined as his wife’s co-host in April 2023 when Seacrest left to focus on his duties at “American Idol.”
Now one year later, the ABC show is moving to 7 Hudson Square, the Walt Disney Company’s new headquarters in New York City.
Other ABC shows, such as “The View” and “The Tamron Hall Show,” have already made the move, while “Good Morning America” is expected to move later this year, per People.
In an interview with People last month — after filming the pre-recorded April 1 episode — Ripa and Consuelos discussed what the move means for them and their family.
“Our kids grew up here,” Consuelos said of the studio. “They’d come visit mom here a lot — they were always backstage, even when they were babies.”
“They came to work with me every day until they went to school,” Ripa said of the couple’s three kids. “We meant when we say they grew up in this building, in these four walls.”
Ripa goes on to explain that she gave birth to her kids at a time when “maternity leave was not really a thing,” adding that she had no idea how to negotiate such a thing.
“But the good news is you could bring your kids to work with you,” Ripa told People.
“Because they’re very mindful of our hours here — as it is a live morning television show — I was able to be a full-time working woman and a full-time mother simultaneously,” she explained.
Ripa and Consuelos met on the set of “All My Children” in 1995 before breaking up the following year, according to People.
That breakup only lasted a few days — and an appearance on “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee” brought them back together.
“We had to be here,” Consuelos told People. “And we both tried to get out of it, but we both ended up being here on this stage.”
It was at that point that Consuelos realized he made a mistake in breaking up with Ripa. So, he asked her to marry him and the couple eloped in Las Vegas the following day.
Ripa and Consuelos have been married ever since.
“Isn’t that wild?” Ripa said to People. “So we owe a lot to this place.”
LOS ANGELES – OCT 12: Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, Michael Consuelos, Joaquin Consuelos arrives to the Walk of Fame honors Kelly Ripa on October 12, 2015 in Hollywood, CA. DFree / Shutterstock.com
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The couple are proud parents to three children — Michael, 27, Lola, 23, and Joaquin, 22 — who have formed close relationships with the behind-the-scenes workers at the talk show.
“Some of our closest friends are people that work here,” Consuelos told People. “We’re a family at Live, and growing up, those were some of the people our kids were closest to.”
“Like, Lola doesn’t look at some of our producers as producers; she looks at them as other moms,” Ripa chimed in. “These are moms she and my sons can go to if I’m on set if there’s an emergency.”
Due to the memories they’ve formed in the Upper West Side studio, Ripa says it’s “going to be hard to replicate” that at the new studio.
“Live with Kelly and Mark” airs live Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. ET on ABC and ABC affiliates.
Ryan Brennan is a writer for Mamas Uncut, the online place for moms. He writes about the latest in baby names, parenting and entertainment.
