KELLY Ripa and Mark Consuelos have celebrated their final Live episode of 2023.
The Live host has been sparking rumors about her retirement after hosting the show since 2001.
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After greeting the Live crowd, Mark announced: “Final show of the year.”
Kelly, 53, exclaimed: “This is it!”
Mark replied: “It’s flown by. 8 months on the show for me.”
The 52-year-old took over as Kelly’s co-host on Live back in April succeeding Ryan Seacrest.
“Isn’t that amazing?” Kelly replied.
Although Kelly isn’t leaving her on-camera career quite yet, she has sparked some rumors about her retirement.
Back in November, Kelly opened up about her future on her podcast, Let’s Talk Off Camera.
During the episode, Kelly sat down with comedian Chelsea Handler to bond over their New Jersey upbringing and the career paths they hope to take down the road.
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At one point, Kelly teased that Chelsea should teach a micro-dosing class to college students after the comic jokingly admitted she keeps her friends and family in line with their medications.
The former late-night host then commented that she didn’t go to college, prompting Kelly to mention her dreams of attending a university.
“I didn’t go to college either, and every time I go to visit – our youngest son is at The University of Michigan – and every time I go to visit him… I’m like, I’m going to go to college here,” Kelly said, referring to her son Joaquin whom she shares with her husband, Mark.
“I’m finally going to when I retire from show business, I’m going to get my college degree, and I can’t wait to go to the University of Michigan,” the TV personality declared.
Kelly and Mark are also parents of two older children: Michael, 26, and Lola, 22, who attended New York University.
BIG CHANGES
The daytime TV star has been teasing her retirement from Live for months, as she’s had numerous co-host shakeups over the years.
She started on Live alongside the late Regis Philbin in 2001 but hasn’t kept a co-host long-term since.
Ryan – who co-hosted the show with Kelly for six years – departed in April, leaving her husband Mark to swoop in as her permanent co-host.
And Kelly most likely wouldn’t continue the show with anyone else after Mark, according to friend and regular Live guest-host Ali Wentworth.
“I think they know what they’re doing,” Ali previously told The U.S. Sun about the famous TV couple.
“I think after having [Michael] Strahan and then Ryan [as co-hosts], it’s almost like a natural thing to have Mark, who by the way co-hosts all the time anyway.
“And it feels like this is the final, final co-host,” the author added.
WANTING OUT
Kelly has hinted multiple times about leaving Live sometime soon.
Earlier in her podcast episode with Chelsea, Kelly confessed she’s “not a morning person,” which has made her early start times more difficult.
She also previously admitted on her podcast that she’s “so close” to calling it quits but would focus on her other business ventures.
The All My Children alum also hosts the game show Generation Gap, and she and Mark own the New York-based production company Milojo.
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