All About Kelly Ripa’s Parents, Joseph and Esther Ripa

For more than 20 years, Kelly Ripa has dominated daytime television, thanks in part to her outspoken personality, which she attributes to her parents, Joseph and Esther Ripa.

According to Kelly, her parents encouraged her pursuit of art and are responsible for her successful career. “My mom and dad are the reason I am who I am today,” she said Journal SJ in 2017. “What you see on the show [Live with Kelly] is exactly the way I behaved at home.”

Kelly also revealed how their way of thinking influenced her own since childhood. “I just live a happy life. I am a happy person,” she said and added, “My parents are very positive people.”

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos relationship timeline

The Living with Kelly and Mark The co-host was born in 1970 in New Jersey and grew up with her older sister, Linda Ripa. Kelly said her parents taught her the value of hard work, but also the importance of having a good time. “There was always a lot of love and laughter and tons of fun in the house,” she said.

Growing up, Kelly was introduced to dance and the piano, and they emphasized the need for discipline in all areas of her life.

“My parents are so proud of their two children and it has nothing to do with what we do for a living,” she said in a 2007 interview with The Red Book. “For them, it’s all about doing their best to be a decent person every day and being grateful for what they have. That’s how I was brought up.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Kelly Ripa’s parents, Joseph and Esther Ripa.

They met in a hospital in New Jersey

Kelly Ripa with her parents, Joseph and Esther Ripa, and her sister Linda.

Kelly Ripa’s Instagram

Joseph and Esther met at Cooper University Hospital, a teaching and research facility in southern New Jersey. In 2022, the hospital announced a $2 billion expansion, and in a video message, Kelly talked about how much the center meant to her family.

“[My parents] we met right here at Cooper, at this hospital, and they taught my sister and I to dream big,” she said. “They gave us the gift of imagining a great future.”

They have been married since 1962

Kelly Ripa’s parents Joseph and Esther Ripa on their wedding day.

Kelly Ripa’s Instagram

Joseph and Esther were married in April 1962 and have been together ever since. Kelly celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2022 with a sweet Instagram post.

“Happy 60th Anniversary to Joe and Essie Ripa, aka Mom and Dad! (I thought it was 60 last year to be honest but they don’t have Insta so it’s fine)♥️♥️,” she captioned a throwback photo of the couple on their wedding day.

Josip is a veteran

Kelly Ripa’s father Joseph Ripa in the Army, circa 1958.

Kelly Ripa’s Instagram

Before he met and married Esther, Joseph was a soldier in the army. Kelly paid tribute to her father on Instagram in 2023 for Veterans Day.

“Circa 1958: My dad, Joe Ripa, was 18 and a Specialist 5 in the Army,” she wrote alongside a black-and-white photo of him during his military days. “We thank him and all of them for their service today and every day.”

After his time in the military, Joseph worked as a bus driver before entering politics, and in 2009 he was appointed County Clerk of Camden County, New Jersey.

They have two daughters

Kelly Ripa and her mom Esther with her sister Linda.

Kelly Ripa’s Instagram

Joseph and Esther are the proud parents of two girls. The couple had their first daughter, Linda, on December 3, 1968. Almost two years later, Kelly was born on October 2, 1970.

Kelly’s parents are now also grandparents to Linda’s son, Sergio Giuseppe Ripa, and to Kelly and her husband Mark Consuelos, Michael, Lola and Joaquin.

All about the three children of Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos

Esther was worried about Kelly moving to New York

Although Kelly has shown that she loves her mother, the couple did not always see eye to eye. The Daytime Emmy winner shared a side-by-side photo of her and Esther on Instagram in 2021, highlighting their similar looks. “Mom in 1980. Me in 2005,” she wrote in the description.

Despite their similarities, Kelly said Ella in 2013 that her mother initially did not agree with her choice to pursue acting. “She was worried I was either going to get heartbroken or live under a bridge,” he said All My Children explained.

While promoting her book from 2022. Live wire: long-form short storiesKelly shared more about her mother’s concerns during her conversation with Anderson Cooper.

“My parents said, ‘New York City? You will be killed. You will be kidnapped,’ she shared.

‘All My Children’ retrospective photos by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos

Joseph is a “breakthrough” TV star

Kelly Ripa and her dad Joe Ripa.

Kelly Ripa’s Instagram

In 2022, Kelly took on a new role as host of ABC’s game show Generation gap and she brought her father along for the ride, portraying him in the first season.

Talking to my ex Live co-host, Ryan Seacrest, Kelly joked about her father’s newfound stardom.

“He came on last week and he thought he was only in the premiere episode, he didn’t realize he was going to be in every episode,” she said in 2022. “So now he wants to renegotiate his contract.”

She called him “a bit of a star” before giving him credit for the show’s success. “I will say, I don’t follow the ratings – I never have… But there seems to be a boost when Joe Ripa comes on. People are like, running to the TV.”

In 2023, Kelly once again praised her father’s newfound stardom when she shared a photo montage for his birthday on Instagram.

“Let’s wish Joe Ripa, Generation Gap breakout star and creator of the men’s crossbody bag, the happiest of birthdays! We love you dad!” she wrote.

Esther stays out of the limelight

Kelly Ripa and her mom Esther Ripa.

Kelly Ripa’s Instagram

Unlike Joseph, Esther does not live in the limelight. In fact, Kelly talked about how her mother prefers to keep things private.

Talking to Katie Couric in 2022, Live star explained that her mother wasn’t featured much in her memoir for one good reason: she didn’t want to be.

“Of course, I would write about my mother in full, but my mother is very similar to everything I wrote about her: I would read to her [from the book] and then she would say: ‘Get rid of it. Get rid of this.’ She didn’t want me to talk about her at all,” Kelly told Couric.

She continued: “I was very conscientious in my writing, but [my mom] it proved challenging.”

Esther taught her to “never call a boy”

Kelly Ripa and her mom Esther Ripa.

Kelly Ripa’s Instagram

Growing up, Kelly learned a lot from her mother, especially about how to set priorities in her life.

“My mom didn’t teach me normal things, like washing clothes or cooking. “She thought it would be better for us to go to ballet classes than to do chores around the house,” she said Good housekeeping 2007. “My mom wanted us to be exposed to the arts and have music lessons, and that was considered more important than doing laundry or picking up after ourselves.”

Along with her cultural upbringing, Kelly learned some special relationship wisdom from her mom.

“I’ll tell you one lesson from her that I’ll remember forever: She taught me never to call my boyfriend,” the actress said. “That advice is how I lived my life. And I have the best husband ever, so that advice must work.”

They moved in with Kelly and Mark in 2022

Kelly Ripa with her father Joseph Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos at the opening of Cooper University’s new Patient Pavilion on December 12, 2008 in Camden, New Jersey.

Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic

In 2021, Kelly and Mark had a house to themselves for the first time in over 20 years after their younger son, Joaquin, left for college. However, the transition from caregivers to empty nesters turned out to be short-lived.

The following year, the couple took in Kelly’s parents after her mother underwent heart surgery.

“We were kind of empty, and then my mom had heart surgery,” she revealed during a guest appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers one month after sharing the news about the procedure. “So now we live with my parents. And Mark said, ‘That didn’t take long. The nest is full again, but with older people.’ ”

Their marriage is an inspiration to Kelly

Kelly Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos at the 95th Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California.

Mike Coppola/Getty

After meeting on the set All My Children 1995 Kelly and Mark eloped in Las Vegas on May 1, 1996. The couple has been married for over 25 years, and she credits her parents for much of her success.

“My mom and dad really feel strongly that marriage is a sacrament. And Mark grew up the same way I did, Kelly said Good housekeeping 2007. She further explained that her parents helped shape the way she approaches her marriage.

“My mom, the way she is with my dad, she’s really been an example to me. I’m so grateful that there’s so much stability in my life,” she said. “It showed me that things are better when you have someone to share them with.”

In an interview with PEOPLE in 2022, the TV host opened up even more about their partnership. “On paper, it wasn’t supposed to work,” she said. “We fought for our marriage when it would have been easier to quit and throw in the towel.”

She further explained that their dedication stems directly from their upbringing. “Listen, my parents have been married for 61 years, and Marko’s parents have been married for 55 years. We didn’t know otherwise.”

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Source: HIS Education