It’s officially the end of an era for Live With Kelly and Mark’s Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos amid a huge change in their lives.
The talk show pair have moved out of their Upper West Side studio as the show prepares to enter a new chapter in a new space. The last episode filmed in the old studio aired on Tuesday, April 1. The old studio will always have a special place in their hearts.
“Our kids grew up here,” Mark, 54, told People. “They’d come visit mom here a lot — they were always backstage, even when they were babies.”
Live has seen many iterations with different cohosts over the years, but for 37 years, all episodes of the talk show were filmed in the same studio.
Since 2001, Kelly’s been cohosting the program. Mark joined her as her official cohost in 2023 after the departure of Ryan Seacrest. Kelly, 54, and Mark are the proud parents to kids Michael, 27, Lola, 23, and Joaquin, 22, who have been a major part of the show over the years, whether it was making appearances or being mentioned in sweet anecdotes by their parents.
“They came to work with me every day until they went to school,” Kelly said about her kiddos. “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.”
“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,” the All My Children alum further explained. “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.”
In a video posted on the show’s Instagram account on Monday, Mark shared a sweet sentiment ahead of the final episode at the 7 Lincoln Square studio.
“This place essentially helped me get the nerve to ask my wife to marry me,” the Pitch alum told the camera. “And we did the next day in Vegas. So I’m thankful for this place.”
“Congratulations!! Bittersweet for sure! Enjoy the new studio creating more ever lasting memories,” one person commented on the post.
“Amazing! I was an intern here in 1994. Loved this place, the energy, and the studio! Good luck on the next chapter!” another person said.
Mark was referencing when he and Kelly were guests on Live With Regis and Kathie Lee in 1996. Their relationship was on a break at the time, but Mark ultimately realized he didn’t want to live without Kelly. He decided to ask for her hand in marriage.
“Obviously, seeing her it was like, ‘This is the worst decision of my life. I have to be with her forever,’” he said. “And I asked her to marry me and we flew to Vegas the next day.” The rest is history.
The show’s new studio is located at 7 Hudson Square in Manhattan, which now serves as the Walt Disney Company’s NYC headquarters.
