Kelly Ripa just dropped a major career bombshell — she may be considering quitting her eponymous talk show alongside her husband, Mark Consuelos.
The 54-year-old was joined by Oprah Winfrey on her podcast Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa. As Oprah reflected on her time hosting The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ran from 1986 until 2011, Kelly turned to the TV icon for her career advice.
"I've been at the talk show now for 25 years, so I'm asking for a friend. How did you know it was time to step away?" asked Kelly. The blonde bombshell joined LIVE as a permanent co-host in 2001 alongside Regis Philbin. Kelly sat alongside the likes of Michael Strahan and Ryan Seacrest, before her husband, Mark, joined in 2023.
However, Oprah urged Kelly not to give up her talk show during the candid chat. "First of all, it's not time for you to step away," she said.
"And I, if I were advising you, I would say absolutely not."
Oprah told Kelly that Mark and her "are in a groove, and that groove continues to work".
"Don’t let go of the platform that you have," Oprah said. "Do not do it. Don't even consider it. The family that you’ve created – both inside the studio and in the rest of the world – is really more vital and important now than ever before."
The 71-year-old reflected on her own talk show and admitted that "the nature of what we were doing every day became just so hard". Oprah gushed over LIVE and praised the show for being "easy, light, and serious enough when it needs to be".
Oprah continued: "Your legacy is every life you touch. It’s measured in all the lives that are being affected by what you’re doing and saying."
Kelly then acknowledged how her fans have played a vital role in her decision to remain on the show over the years. "I have to remember that there are certain people that I will never know … who are counting on me and counting on the show," she said.
The podcast host then urged her guest to bring back The Oprah Winfrey Show. "If somebody could get us through the dark times that we currently seem to be stuck in, it would be you guiding us," she added.
Kelly's retirement plans
In a 2024 interview with ET, Mark previously praised his wife’s work ethic and touched on the topic of retirement following Kelly’s candid admission that she doesn’t plan to host Live “for the rest of my life.”
"I think it’s a real thing," he said about Kelly eventually stepping away from TV.
"She's been at that for 23 years. I don’t think it's gonna be anytime soon. I know she’s having a good time, I'm having a really, really good time. But at some point, yeah."
He continued: "When she does decide to walk away, no one's earned it more than her. She's been working her butt off since she was like 12 or 13 years old, and she got into the business at 18, and so it’s been a long ride. [But] she's having a blast now."