Kelly Ripa discusses unkind comments concerning her weight in upsetting conversation

Kelly Ripa has got incredibly candid about an unhappy memory which shortly occurred after her son Michael, now 26, was born. 

The Live Wire author opened up about how she was body shamed after returning to work just nine days after giving birth, a memory she describes as “brutal”. 

Kelly was chatting to One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton Morgan on the December 6 episode of her podcast, Let’s Talk Off Camera. 

She explained that she had gained 68 pounds during her pregnancy, and when she got back to work on the set of All My Children, the wardrobe department told her: “We thought you’d be smaller by now.” 

She told Hilarie: “I was like, ‘Well, I’m not going to be smaller anytime soon. I don’t know much but here’s what I do know. This looks like it’s going to be here for a while. I’m not in any rush.'” 

Kelly added that she struggled with the “brutal” reality of having to go back to work so soon, as well as her body confidence. “I didn’t recognize my body. I was on the soap and I had to go back to work nine days after [giving birth], nine days!” she said. 

Kelly starred on All My Children from 1990 to 2002, where she played Hayley Vaughan. It was the very show she met her husband, Mark Consuelos, and the couple eloped in 1996, going on to welcome three children. 

© Jim Antonucci

Along with Michael, they are also parents to Lola, 22, and 20-year-old Joaquin. Just recently, Kelly admitted that she had lost her wedding ring during a surprise admission on Live with Kelly and Mark. 

The star told the audience that she misplaced it somewhere in the house, which led on to the couple explaining that this wasn’t the first time it had happened. 

© Getty

During the conversation about rings, she went on to reminisce about another one she had lost, and how bad she felt. “It was missing for much longer but I didn’t have the heart to tell him,” Kelly said after Mark guessed that the ring had been missing for around two months. 

“I can’t have nice things! There is a reason why I don’t have nice things!” she exclaimed. “She felt really bad about it and her birthday was coming up so I thought I would recreate it,” he said. 

“I went to the jewler and he still had the design from almost 15 years ago… I said ‘how fast can you do it,’ it was perfect for her birthday, I was going to give her the ring that she lost and she will feel bad about me giving her the ring again and it will be good for me.” 

However, just a day before birthday Kelly’s birthday, she found the ring. “So we are in our little closet area and the day before the birthday she goes ‘I found it!'” Mark said. 

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“I said ‘You found what? What did you find?’ And I said ‘Great!’ “She said ‘Aren’t you excited?’ I said ‘Let me show you what I was going to give you. I am not going to give you another gift!'” While the ring is now a “backup ring,” Kelly and Mark went on to say that their 22-year-old daughter Lola was eyeing it up for herself. 

It’s been a busy year for Kelly, who began mixing her personal life with her professional career in April, after her husband joined her as the new co-host on Live. The family will be reuniting soon in New York City for Christmas, when Joaquin returns home from Michigan for a few weeks.

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