As hidey holes go, the Caribbean is not a bad one. And living out the lockdown amidst the crystal waters without anyone noticing is even more impressive when you’re a daytime TV anchor broadcasting from “home” every day.
It has now been revealed that Kelly Ripa has been doing exactly that; she and her partner Mark Consuelos and their three children have been quarantining in the Caribbean amid the coronavirus pandemic, a situation they decided not to share with viewers.
“The family was on a trip in the Caribbean when told to shelter in place and decided to stay put,” a source told People.
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Ripa apparently discussed their decision to stay put on their island paradise during a virtual townhall last week with ABC employees moderated by Sandy Kenyon.
“We had planned a trip for our family, and it was supposed to be our entire family of course,” Ripa said, according to a source at the town hall who relayed the information to People. “And we arrive and three days later, the entire world changed, really. I mean, everything shut down; the government shut down; our country shut down. I hate to use the word stuck, but we were. We decided to stay where we were.”
Ripa added that it was “distressing” that both her parents were not able to join them.
“It was supposed to be a two-week trip and we wound up going right back to work. Ryan and I both decided it was better to do the show, because we just felt like... with everything that was going on in the world that perhaps, some normalcy of just doing what we normally do, even though it was like in very unusual circumstances, would be the best thing for us.”
Ripa continued: “I think it’s been a great benefit for us to have each other, to have our viewing audience and just to hear Brian Chapman’s voice in my ear, our director first thing in the morning. It just normalizes everything as abnormal as it all is.”
Consuelos and Ripa have both been cautious not to actively boast about their location in recent weeks; although an Instagram she shared two weeks ago showed her kissing Consuelos on a beach.
Their daughter Lola also posted a photo of them landing in the Caribbean on her Instagram stories, with the caption “home,” Page Six reports, adding that Ripa and family have sought to “keep their quarantine destination quiet.”
Ripa has been remotely filming episodes of ABC’s Live with Kelly and Ryan since late March as the show’s New York City studio has been shut down. Seacrest is at his home in L.A.
Critics on social media are now complaining that Ripa should have been clear about her physical location.
There has, however, been trouble in paradise. Back in April, Ripa became tearful when she spoke about the challenges of maintaining relationships with her children, aged 22, 18 and 17, during the quarantine, saying: “I’m not going to lie, OK? I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’m currently not speaking to two of my three kids right now. I’m not talking to two of them.”
Everyone felt sorry for her, which maybe they wouldn’t have had she added that the not-speaking was taking place on a Caribbean island.
