All About Kelly Ripa's Parents, Joseph and Esther Ripa

For over 20 years, Kelly Ripa has been at the forefront of daytime television, thanks in part to her outgoing personality, which she attributes to her parents, Joseph and Esther Ripa.

According to Kelly, her parents encouraged her artistic pursuits and are responsible for her successful career. “My mom and dad are the reason I am who I am today,” she told SJ Magazine in 2017. “What you see on the show [Live with Kelly] is just the way I used to act at home.”

Kelly also revealed how their mindset influenced hers since childhood. “I just live a happy life. I’m a happy person,” she shared, adding, “My parents are very positive people.”

The Live with Kelly and Mark co-host was born in 1970 in New Jersey and was raised alongside her older sister, Linda Ripa. Kelly has said her parents taught her the value of hard work but also the importance of having a good time. “There was always a lot of love and laughter in the house, and tons of fun,” she said.

Growing up, Kelly was introduced to dance and piano, and they stressed the need for discipline in all parts of her life.

“My parents are just so proud of their two children, and it has nothing to do with what we do for a living,” she said in a 2007 interview with Redbook. “For them, it's all about trying your hardest to be a decent person every day and being grateful for what you have. That's how I was raised.”

Here’s everything to know about Kelly Ripa’s parents, Joseph and Esther Ripa.

They met at a New Jersey hospital

Joseph and Esther met at Cooper University Hospital, a teaching and research facility in southern New Jersey. In 2022, the hospital announced a $2 billion dollar expansion and in a video message, Kelly spoke about how meaningful the center was to her family.

“[My parents] met right here at Cooper, in this hospital, and they taught my sister and me to dream big,” she said. “They gave us the gift of imagining a great future.”

They have been married since 1962

Joseph and Esther tied the knot in April 1962 and have been together ever since. In 2022, Kelly celebrated their 60-year wedding anniversary with a sweet post on Instagram.

“Happy 60th anniversary to Joe and Essie Ripa, aka Dad and Mom! (I thought it was 60 last year if I’m being honest, but they don’t have Insta so it’s fine)♥️♥️,” she wrote alongside a throwback photo of the pair on their wedding day.

Joseph is a veteran

Prior to meeting and marrying Esther, Joseph was a soldier in the army. In 2023, Kelly honored her father with a Veterans Day shout-out on Instagram.

“Circa 1958: My dad, Joe Ripa was 18 and a Specialist 5 in the Army,” she wrote alongside a black-and-white snapshot of him during his military days. “We thank him and all those for their service today and every day.”

After his time in the army, Joseph worked as a bus driver before moving into politics, and in 2009, he was appointed county clerk of Camden County, New Jersey.

They have two daughters

Joseph and Esther are the proud parents of two girls. The couple welcomed their first daughter, Linda, on Dec. 3, 1968. Nearly two years later, Kelly was born on Oct. 2, 1970.

Kelly's parents are now also grandparents to Linda's son, Sergio Giuseppe Ripa, and Kelly and her husband Mark Consuelos' children, Michael, Lola and Joaquin.

Esther was worried about Kelly moving to New York

Although Kelly has shown how she takes after her mother, the pair haven't always seen eye-to-eye. The Daytime Emmy Award winner shared a side-by-side photo comparison of her and Esther on Instagram in 2021, highlighting their similar looks. “Mom 1980. Me 2005,” she wrote in the caption.

Despite their similarities, Kelly told Elle in 2013 that her mother initially disagreed with her choice to pursue acting. “She worried that I'd either get my heart broken or live under a bridge,” the All My Children explained.

While promoting her 2022 book, Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories, Kelly shared more about her mom’s concerns during a conversation with Anderson Cooper.

“My parents were like, 'New York City? You'll be killed. You'll be kidnapped,' ” she shared.

Joseph is a “breakout” TV star

In 2022, Kelly took on a new role as the host of ABC’s game show Generation Gap and she brought her dad along for the ride, featuring him in the first season.

Speaking with her former Live co-host, Ryan Seacrest, Kelly joked about her father’s newfound stardom from the series.

“He tuned in last week and he thought he was just in the premiere episode, he did not realize he was going to be in every episode,” she said in 2022. “So, now he wants to renegotiate his deal.”

She went on to call him “a bit of a star” before giving him credit for the success of the show. “I will say, I don't follow ratings — I never have ... But there seems to be this boost when Joe Ripa comes on. People like, run to the TV.”

Kelly praised her father’s newfound stardom again in 2023 when she shared a photo montage on Instagram for his birthday.

“Let’s wish Joe Ripa, the breakout star of Generation Gap and the originator of the cross-body man purse the happiest birthday! We love you dad!” she wrote.

Esther stays out of the spotlight

Unlike Joseph, Esther isn’t one for life in the limelight. In fact, Kelly has spoken about how her mother prefers to keep things more private.

Speaking with Katie Couric in 2022, the Live star explained that her mom wasn’t featured heavily in her memoir for one good reason: she didn’t want to be.

“Of course, I would write about my mom in totality but mom is very much like everything I wrote about her: I would read to her [from the book] and then she’d say, ‘Get rid of that. Get rid of this.’ She didn’t want me to talk about her at all," Kelly told Couric.

She continued, “I was very conscientious in writing, but [my mom] proved challenging.”

Esther taught her to “never call a boy”

Growing up, Kelly learned a lot from her mother, especially about how to prioritize her life.

“My mom didn't teach me normal stuff, like how to do laundry or cook. She thought it would be better for us to have ballet lessons than do chores around the house,” she told Good Housekeeping in 2007. “My mom wanted us to be exposed to the arts and have music classes, and that was considered more important than doing the laundry or picking up after yourself.”

Along with her cultural education, Kelly learned a specific piece of wisdom about relationships from her mom.

“I'll tell you one lesson of hers that I'll always remember: She taught me to never call a boy,” the actress said. “That piece of advice is how I've lived my life. And I have the greatest husband ever so that advice must work.”

They moved in with Kelly and Mark in 2022

In 2021, Kelly and Mark had the house to themselves for the first time in over 20 years after their younger son, Joaquin, went to college. However, the transition from being caretakers to empty nesters turned out to be short-lived.

The following year, the pair took in Kelly’s parents after her mom underwent a heart procedure.

“We were kind of empty nesters and then my mom had heart surgery,” she revealed during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers a month after sharing news of the procedure. “So, now we're living with my parents. And Mark is like, ‘That didn't take long. The nest is full again but with older people.' ”

Their marriage is an inspiration to Kelly

After meeting on the set of All My Children in 1995, Kelly and Mark eloped in Las Vegas on May 1, 1996. The couple have been married for over 25 years, and she attributes a big part of their success to her parents.

“My mom and my dad really feel very strongly that marriage is a sacrament. And Mark grew up the same way I did,” Kelly told Good Housekeeping in 2007. She went on to explain that her parents have helped shape the way she approaches her marriage.

"My mom, in the way she is with my dad, has really been an example for me. I'm so grateful that there's so much stability in my life,” she said. “It's shown me that things are better when you have someone to share them with.”

In a 2022 interview with PEOPLE, the TV host opened up about their partnership even more. “On paper, it should not have worked,” she said. “We fought for our marriage when it would have been easier to quit and throw in the towel.”

She went on to explain that their commitment directly results from their upbringing. “Listen, my parents have been married for 61 years and Mark's parents have been married for 55 years. We didn't know any other way.”

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