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Kelly Ripa is sharing a behind-the-scenes secret from her time hosting Live remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the August 20 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, the longtime morning show host revealed that she often ditched pants while filming from home. "I loved doing the show without pants on," Ripa, 55, confessed.
"Guess what? While you were watching the show and we were shooting from a computer screen, I had a blouse on top and nothing on the bottom."
She added that she kept a snack close by during commercial breaks. "We would go to commercial break and I would be Grape-Nutting it, and then, back to air," she joked, explaining that she had "a bowl of Grape-Nuts clutched in between my thighs."
Ripa began broadcasting Live with Kelly and Ryan from home in March 2020, alongside then-cohost Ryan Seacrest, as the pandemic forced the show into remote production. While she kept her pants-free routine private at the time, she was candid with viewers about another challenge: maintaining her signature blonde hair without salon visits.
She documented her growing gray roots on social media under the hashtag "root watch," even spraying hair clips brown to keep wiry strands under control. "Gray hair has a different texture. Anyone with gray hair can tell you, it's very wired. It tends to stand up," she explained on air.
More than six years later, Ripa says her love of staying home hasn't changed. During the same episode, she admitted she prefers restaurants that mimic her ideal at-home vibe. "I want it dark," she said.
"As long as the restaurant has no lighting. I want it dark like a bat cave. I want to go in there, I want people to really struggle to see. A candle. I want to be able to wear comfortable clothes." Summing up her dream night out, she quipped: "In other words, I want to stay at home and eat in my bedroom."
