Kelly Ripa was born Kelly Maria Ripa on the 2nd of October 1970 in New Jersey. Her father is an Italian while her mother is Irish-Italian. Kelly attended the Eastern High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey. At Eastern High Kelly Ripa participated in several school plays which lead to her playing in the local theatre. Her local appearance led to a spot in the Dance Party USA. The Dance Party was USA Network’s teen music show in the afternoon. After that Kelly Ripa landed a role in the hit soap All My Children. She played the teen gothic turned heroine Hayley Vaughan. This made her famous and drew a cult following across the US.

In 1995, Kelly Ripa's character Haley was paired with Mateo Santos played by Mark Consuelos. Like their characters in All My Children, the two had a romantic relationship and eloped in 1996 in Las Vegas. They soon had three children born the following year, in 2002 and the last one in 2003. She and Mark decided to leave All My Children in 2002.

In 2003, Kelly Ripa appeared again on television in the sitcom Hope and Faith. she played Faith Fairfield and appeared opposite Faith Ford. Hope and Faith ended in 2006 after it failed in the ratings. In 2007, Kelly Ripa said that she is content with her work in Live with Regis and Kelly. She said it is not likely that she will do another film or television series for the time being.
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