Kelly Ripa Says She Called Into ‘Live!’ Hours After Giving Birth: “Brilliant Timing on Lola’s Part”
Kelly Ripa recalls phoning into her morning show Live with Regis and Kelly from the hospital bed just hours after delivering daughter Lola on Father’s Day 2001.
New York City, July 31 EST: Only Kelly Ripa could turn a C-section into a live segment. The longtime morning show queen, mom of three, and reigning champ of TMI storytelling just dropped a gem on the Not Gonna Lie podcast and it’s peak Ripa. Turns out, when she gave birth to her daughter Lola on Father’s Day 2001, she called into Live with Regis and Kelly just hours later from her hospital bed. No glam, no pre-roll, just a phone patch and some post-delivery adrenaline.
“I remember the producer showing me a Polaroid of Mark holding the baby,” she recalled. “And I was like, ‘She’s here. She’s a girl. She’s adorable.’” Then, without missing a beat: “It was brilliant timing on Lola’s part.”
The Birth Heard Around the Studio
Let’s rewind: June 16, 2001. The Ripa-Consuelos crew was blasting Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana” en route to the hospital. After 12 hours of labor and a planned C-section, baby Lola Grace made her debut in Manhattan and Kelly did what any caffeinated new mom-slash-TV host might do: she picked up the phone and joined Regis on air.
The hospital staff knew. The Live! producers were ready. Viewers at home got a live birth announcement straight from the source.
It was chaotic, weirdly wholesome, and kind of perfect.
Why It Still Hits
This isn’t just a cute story about Kelly Ripa being Kelly Ripa. It’s a reminder of what made her click with viewers in the first place. She’s always blurred the line between the show and real life, long before social media made oversharing a sport.
Lola’s birth came at a pivotal time: Ripa had just landed the co-hosting gig on Live! earlier that year, stepping into Kathie Lee Gifford’s formidable shoes. The chemistry between her and Regis Philbin was electric, and moments like this completely unscripted and deeply personal cemented her place in the hearts of daytime viewers.
Also? It was very 2001. A Polaroid. A live phone call. A celebrity giving birth and then going on air without a filter or a glam squad. You couldn’t script this today even if you tried.
The Family Biz
Of course, fans know the Ripa-Consuelos family is basically the closest thing daytime TV has to royalty. Michael, the oldest, was born in 1997 and went on to study film and dabble in acting (including a gig as young Hiram Lodge on Riverdale). Joaquin, the youngest, arrived in 2003 and has been low-key pursuing wrestling and college life.
Lola, the middle child and subject of this latest flashback, mostly keeps things private though she did study music at NYU and occasionally pops up on her parents’ Instagram grids, usually looking mortified by their PDA.
That’s the running gag: Kelly overshares, Mark plays it straight, and the kids tolerate it all with the weary grace of offspring who grew up in the public eye.
The Legacy of One (Very On-Brand) Phone Call
Two decades later, that hospital call still resonates not because it was wild, but because it was so her. No PR rollout, no grand gesture. Just Kelly, still in the hospital gown, letting fans in on her life as it unfolded in real time.
It’s moments like these that turned viewers into lifers. The kind of thing that, today, would’ve gone viral by noon and turned into a TikTok trend by dinnertime. Back then? It was just Kelly doing what she does best: showing up, no matter where she is.
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A bi-coastal pop culture critic and former indie screenwriter, Gia covers Hollywood, streaming wars, and subculture shifts with razor wit and Gen Z intuition. If it’s going viral, she already knew about it.
