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Kelly Ripa reveals unexpected change to appearance after major health decision

The Live with Kelly and Mark star shared her story on Wednesday's show

Jenni McKnight
US Lifestyle Editor
January 23, 2025
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Kelly Ripa is a picture of health and takes her diet and exercise regime seriously after making some major lifestyle changes over the years.

However, the 54-year-old revealed on Wednesday's Live with Kelly and Mark that she didn't expect her body to change the way it did after she gave up alcohol in 2017.

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Discussing 'Dry January' with Andy Cohen – who was filling in for her husband Mark Consuelos who is away filming a new project – Kelly revealed that she gained 12lbs after she cut alcohol from her diet.

Andy revealed that he had given up drinking for the month and remarked that "usually a little weight loss comes my way after," but this year, it's "not really happening yet".

That discussion led Kelly to admit that giving up alcohol had the opposite effect on her body and she experienced weight gain.

"I told you when I quit drinking, I expected there to be this windfall of weight loss because everybody's like, 'Well, you are going to get too skinny, and you can't afford to lose it,'" Kelly said.

Kelly Ripa on the red carpet © Getty Images
Kelly said she gained 12lbs after giving up alcohol

"I gained 12 pounds [and said], 'I don't understand this magical weight loss that people apply.'"

Trying to explain why she thinks she gained instead of lost weight, Kelly added: "I think I just took to eating the sugars. Because apparently, alcohol is like a lot of sugar, which you don't really realize when it goes in it tastes kind of bitter."

Kelly Ripa on the red carpet © Getty Images
Kelly hasn't had a drink since 2017

In January 2020, Kelly opened up about the decision to People, joking that the time she gave up drinking just so happened to be at the same time that Ryan Seacrest started working at Live.

"Ryan likes to blame himself for me stopping drinking, he's like, 'I got here, and you stopped drinking.'" she said.

"It really was not that. I did a sober month – all my girlfriends did it, we all did it together – and I just never went back to it. It wasn't even really a thought process," she explained.

Kelly Ripa© Patricia Schlein/Star Max
Kelly feels so much better after giving up alcohol

Kelly realized that by giving up alcohol, she not only felt great but lost the "desire" to start drinking again. "I didn't feel hungover. Not that I was a heavy drinker – I wasn't someone who got drunk – but even like two glasses of wine at a girl's night out dinner; I would feel it the next morning," she said.

"I just didn't really feel the need or desire to go back to it," she continued. "It wasn't really a choice or a thought, it was just, 'Yeah, I guess I don't drink anymore.'"

Kelly also told the publication that quitting smoking in the '90s was much harder for her than giving up alcohol, but she doesn't miss either of her former habits.

Kelly Ripa in the Live studios © Getty Images
Kelly doesn't miss alcohol or cigarettes

"I'm not comparing cigarettes to alcohol, but for me it was just like, I don't do that anymore," she added. "I felt better so I just stopped."

Kelly's diet is also really healthy, and she gave up sugar after making simple changes to her eating habits with the help of Dr. Daryl Gioffe, who wrote Get Off Your Sugar, for which the star wrote a foreword.

Kelly has also eliminated sugar from her diet© Getty Images
Kelly has also eliminated sugar from her diet

It read: "For years I had a candy drawer at home that I kept fully stocked and would dip into whenever I felt the faintest urge for sugar. I knew that sugar isn't good for you, but I figured that everybody needed to have some kind of vice, right? What was so bad about rewarding myself with something sweet?"

She added: "What I didn't fully appreciate is just how addictive sugar truly is."

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