Cancer. The unexpected death of a close friend.
A horrible car accident. Kelly Ripa has overcome some pretty serious hardships!
Kelly Ripa has been vocal about her experience with mental health issues,
especially in her candid 2022 book, "Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories." In the memoir,
Ripa bravely shared how she experienced depression in the earlier days of her
career and recounted a heartbreaking conversation she had with a therapist. She recalled saying,
"I almost always wake up crying at the thought of having to go to work. I feel
like I'm in physical pain. My hair hurts. I have no energy at all. I'm very easily distracted.
When I'm playing with my kids, I feel like I've forgotten to do something at work,
and when I'm at work, I feel like I've forgotten to do something for my kids.
I cry in the shower. I cry myself to sleep. I cry backstage. I sometimes
want to cry in the middle of the show. Sometimes I feel like I can't breathe."
She also spoke to Washington Post Live in October 2022 about her experience
with mental health issues and how much therapy helped her to
learn how to cope with difficult or stressful situations. She explained,
"I really sought therapy as a way to sort of
deal with the stress and learn how to manage my own anxiety."
Though ovarian cysts can be quite common, Kelly Ripa had a difficult
experience with one that we're hoping isn't all too common. The star also opened up in her book
about a time she had just finished getting intimate with her husband, Mark Consuelos,
in 1997. Her ovarian cysts ruptured and she passed out. Explaining that
her vision started to get fuzzy as she felt herself losing consciousness, she recalled,
"I'm flat on my back, wondering when the other two cysts will burst."
Ripa then woke up in the hospital to find Consuelos hadn't exactly chosen
the best attire for her to wear. She jokingly described herself as looking like a, quote,
"dime store prostitute" because of how he dressed her in a rush to get her help.
Kelly Ripa's family experienced an unimaginable tragedy in 1999 when her sister, Linda Ripa,
got into a serious car accident while seven months pregnant. Linda told The New York
Times that she suffered horrific injuries, including multiple broken and crushed bones.
Her unborn son was sent into a coma as a result of the trauma because of the
way Linda's pelvis had been mangled. Making things even tougher for Linda,
she decided not to take the pain medication medical professionals offered her because of
the harm they could potentially cause to her unborn baby. Thankfully, Linda's son,
Sergio-Giuseppe, was born healthy following the accident — but around seven weeks early.
Kelly has spoken out about how Linda's terrifying road incident impacted the Ripa family and even
shared how her family coped during Linda's court case after she filed a lawsuit against
a surgeon who botched one of her operations. Kelly explained in 2001 that her parents had
stepped up to raise Sergio-Giuseppe while Linda couldn't, but was also tasked with the difficult
job of taking care of their daughter at the same time. According to the New York Post, she said:
"My mother is a 24-hour-a-day nurse to my sister. [Linda] will never,
ever know a normal life again. And there's nothing they can do."
Linda was eventually awarded $15 million in 2004.
Linda Ripa hasn't been the only member of the Ripa family dealing with some health issues. Kelly's
mom, Esther Ripa, is a cancer survivor. In fact, the TV personality shared with Yahoo! in 2011
that Esther and her husband Mark Consuelos' mom, Camilla, had both overcome the disease. Kelly has
since been very involved with raising awareness and funds for cancer charities, including
supporting the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund following another personal tragedy. She shared,
"A close friend and neighbor of mine growing up died when she was younger
than I am now of ovarian cancer, and she never really even knew she was
sick. She never knew she had the disease until it was too late."
In addition to her cancer diagnosis, Kelly's mom also had a heart procedure in September 2022,
with Kelly giving an update on her recovery on "Live with Kelly and Ryan." Kelly shared
that her mom was, thankfully, doing well following the series surgery, adding,
"I got to tell you something, until you — and all people go through this,
and you don't really realize what gems hospital workers are."
Kelly Ripa opened up about more of her struggles in her book, which seem to greatly affect her
daily life, including a battle with a social anxiety disorder. She explained,
"I tend to say awkward or inappropriate things when under duress. People think that because
I'm an extrovert on television, I am one in real life. Surprise. That's why they call it acting."
She also explained to "Washington Post Live" in
October 2022 that therapy helped her get her anxiety under control. She shared,
"I mean, there are so many different ways people choose to deal with it,
you know, I went to therapy."
But that's not the only struggle Ripa faces on a daily basis. She also shared
in her memoir that she'd self-diagnosed herself with a slew of other conditions,
which she was worried may have impacted her children. Amongst the things the star believes
she may have is a low-functioning borderline personality disorder, ADHD, agoraphobia,
narcissism, and what she described as unchecked ego-maniacal grandiosity.
Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa are proud parents to three children, Michael Consuelos, Lola Consuelos,
and Joaquin Consuelos. Unfortunately, they've been on quite the emotional journey with Joaquin,
their youngest son when it comes to his education. Ripa opened up about the worries
that came with his dyslexia and dysgraphia. Only, thankfully, the couple's concerns were unfounded,
as the host confirmed in 2021 that Joaquin had defied the odds.
"Joaquin is trying to decide on a college right now, and he's got lots of options."
Ripa proudly told fans on "Live with Kelly and Ryan"
about a touching video call she had with Mark about their son's future.
"Mark got very emotional and very choked up because he said,
'You know, I never thought he would be able to go to college."
Ripa previously opened up about Joaquin's learning difficulties on the show in 2017
when she and Seacrest shared an emotional moment. Getting teary as
she showed how proud she was that Joaquin had managed to score all A's, she said,
"A lot of you that watch the show know he has dyslexia,
so school has always been a very big challenge for us in our household."
As a working mom, Kelly Ripa has admitted she constantly feels
guilty trying to balance life as a TV personality and a doting mom to her and
Mark Consuelos' three children. She shared with Yahoo! in 2011,
"Guilt for me is something that I still struggle with. I always feel guilty. I
think every working mother does have that guilt about failing in some way."
Ripa shared some of the few coping skills she's learned over the years to help her, saying,
"The way I've learned to sort of balance it is just by knowing that I'm going to fail
everybody a little bit every day. Nobody's going to get hurt. So I just have to sort of
relieve myself of feeling the pressure to do everything perfectly every day."
As a result, Ripa said she learned to push the guilt of missing school
events way down. But she probably put it best when sharing her parenting tips with WebMD,
"I'm a flawed parent, but I work hard. I feel for all parents because we're all learning as we go."
Kelly Ripa was left devastated when her former "All My Children" co-star,
John Callahan, died in March 2020. She first shared her heartbreak on Instagram
in a since-deleted post, sharing a photo of Callahan with his former wife, Eva LaRue
,while she was expecting their daughter, Kaya Callahan. She captioned the upload,
"Because there are no words, all I can muster is Rest In Peace
#johncallahan. My heart breaks for you @evalarue and @kaya_callahan."
She opened up about her loss on "Live With Kelly And Ryan", saying:
"I had, I really had a really, you know, a bad weekend this weekend."
She explained just how close she was with her fellow actor,
even revealing that Eva is her son Michael Consuelos' godmother.
"He was a great actor, a really good friend. One of the funniest people I've ever met."
The emotional star continued by sharing that
Callahan's daughter is great friends with her daughter.
"We are just so sad and so devastated."
A glass-eyed Ripa apologized to viewers if she didn't seem
quite with it during the show due to her grief.
"I'm terribly out of it. So, forgive me. You know, forgive me for it."
In a tale that unfortunately seems all too familiar in Hollywood,
Kelly Ripa had a difficult time during her early days on the show then known as "Live
with Regis and Kelly." Based on what she wrote in her book, she believes it's because she's a
woman. She also told People in September 2022 that her co-star, Regis Philbin,
didn't exactly make her feel the most welcome when she landed her headline gig. She said,
"I don't want to feel like I'm slamming anyone or that I'm being disrespectful.
But I also want people to know it was not a cakewalk. It took years
to earn my place there and earn things that are routinely given to the men I
worked with. Including an office and a place to put my computer."
Things were so tough for the star that she admitted on "Not Skinny But Not Fat"
in October 2022 she would never have signed on the dotted line if she knew
how much drama the show would bring to her life as a busy mom. She explained,
"If I had known going in, I wouldn't have done it. And how sad for me. Luckily, ignorance is bliss."
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the
Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness
helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.