April 1 marked the end of a long era in daytime television. Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos aired the final Live with Kelly and Mark episode filmed at their old studio. For decades, they filmed in the Upper West Side at 7 Lincoln Square at 67th St. and Columbus Ave. Live has filmed at the studio for 37 years and was home to several hosts, including the legendary Regis Philbin. It was bittersweet for Kelly and Mark, as she’s been on the show since 2001. During those 24 years, she and Mark built a family.
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“Our kids grew up here,” Mark told People. “They’d come visit mom here a lot — they were always backstage, even when they were babies.”
Kelly Ripa Raised Her Kids In The Studio
Kelly Ripa recalled her early days on Live with People. “They came to work with me every day until they went to school,” she said. “They would go to All My Children with me, they would come here with me… we meant when we say they grew up in this building, in these four walls.”
Kelly added the Live team had made the studio a home.
“You have to remember, I had my kids back in a time when maternity leave was not really a thing. We didn’t really know how to negotiate that or navigate that,” she added. “But the good news is you could bring your kids to work with you. And 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, which is a very rare thing and not something I take for granted at all.”
Live With Mark And Kelly will now be produced at their news studio at 7 Hudson Square in downtown Manhattan at the Robert A. Iger Building.
This story’s featured image is by LORENZO BEVILAQUA/Disney via Getty Images.
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