Kelly Ripa celebrates 25 years at ‘Live’ and shares how the “irreverent” daytime talk show has withstood the tests of time: “We cover the absurd”

At this point, you have most likely spent a morning with Kelly Ripa.

It’s been 25 years since Ripa joined the late Regis Philbin on her first official episode as co-host of Live with Regis and Kelly in February 2001, succeeding Kathie Lee Gifford. In those two and a half decades, Ripa has become a weekday morning fixture, gabbing with guests through each of the syndicated daytime talk show’s iterations, and sipping coffee with a slew of co-hosts, including Philbin, Michael Strahan, Ryan Seacrest, and her husband Mark Consuelos, the last of whom currently resides alongside her in his third season of Live with Kelly and Mark.

Sitting down with DECIDER on set to look back on her impressive daytime TV tenure, Ripa said she “knew” that Live was “special” just from watching it at home.

“I found it unique as a viewer,” she explained. “I really thought it was very funny, very irreverent, there was nothing else on TV like it.”

As for how the “irreverent” Live has managed to hold a stake in the linear TV landscape for so long despite the ongoing streaming and podcast wars, Ripa put it simply.

“We cover the absurd,” she teased. “Our job when we come on the air, we are fully cognizant that the viewers at home have had five hours of news programming. So we try to bring them a lighter, less anxiety-inducing side of what the headlines have to offer.”

Photo: Disney/ Jeff Neira

As Live prepares to celebrate Ripa’s 25th anniversary on Friday, give our recent chat with Ripa a read to find out what drew her to the legendary gig, what she sees for Live‘s future, and how New York City plays a role in the storied daytime talk show.

DECIDER: This month marks 25 years for you at Live.

KELLY RIPA: It’s crazy.

Is there a moment you can pinpoint where you realized that this show was special and that this gig was unlike others that you had had in the past?

Well, from a work standpoint, it’s different. I knew this show was special because I used to watch it. So that’s what I knew about the show. I found it unique as a viewer. I really thought it was very funny, very irreverent, there was nothing else on TV like it. And working here has been unique to me in myriad ways because I’ve been able to work full-time professionally, and yet also raise a family, which is very different from most entertainers in this business. If you have a family, you’re often having to take your kids out of school and move across the country, or move depending on what series you’re working on, anywhere… And I was able to raise my kids in the same place, in the same town, going to the same school, all of their lives. That really appealed to me. I knew the show was special from watching it, but the work schedule was what really appealed to me initially.

Photo: Spencer Platt/Newsmakers via Getty Images

The talk show genre is at the root of so many different mediums that have spawned out of it, like podcasts and now social media. What do you think it is about Live though that has allowed it to withstand the tests of time?

I think it’s just that we cover the issues that people have in their own homes in various stages of their lives. We’re very irreverent. We cover the news, but we cover the absurdity of the news. We cover the absurd. Our job when we come on the air, we are fully cognizant that the viewers at home have had five hours of news programming. So we try to bring them a lighter, less anxiety-inducing side of what the headlines have to offer.

You’ve mentioned in past interviews that this role may not be forever. What do you see for the future of Live, and how will you know if it’s time for…?

For me, I always say this job and this place is so special, that I really do believe in this show as a franchise. It’s a franchise show. Before me, there was Regis [Philbin] and Kathie Lee [Gifford]. And before Kathie Lee, there was Regis and a myriad of other hosts. I believe this show will continue on for as long as linear television exists. I believe that there are too many talented people out there that really deserve the opportunity to find their own audience and grow the audience the way they see fit. Because I don’t intend to work for the rest of my life. I really do not.

Understandable.

Contrary to what everyone around here thinks! [Laughs]. I don’t intend on working for the rest of my life. But I think we’ll all make that decision when the time comes. I think there’s a way to sort of get new people on board and have them test co-hosts, and get the audience used to other people. I think it’s important. I love this show too much to see it sort of ever end with us.

Photo: Disney/Lorenzo Bevilaqua

New York City’s the backdrop to this show.

It is!

How intrinsic is it to a show like Live, and how does it play a role?

New York is the third co-host of this show. We do have a broad spectrum of audience members, obviously. They come from all over the country, and sometimes globally, they come from other countries. But New York is a character. And if you shoot a show in New York, you’re going to have the best characters in house, and you’re going to have the best stories to tell, because just living in New York is, itself, a storyline. This winter, we have had snow that refuses to melt. I can complain about that for seven weeks in a row. And then when the snow goes away and the rains come in, I will complain about that. Because complaining about the weather is as intrinsic to this show as the coffee, as the mug, as “Stump Mark.”

Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. Check out the show’s website for your local listings.