Kelly Ripa

During this segment, Margolis revealed a secret that Ripa had been keeping under wraps: she's pregnant with her second child. Ripa blushed and nervously replied, "I haven't told my boss yet!" Philbin later revealed that of all the potential candidates including Jane Krakowski, Valerie Bertinelli, Dolly Parton, and Bernadette Peters: "it could only be Kelly. We knew that from her memorable debut onward." Read Less

The half-hour sitcom, co-starring Faith Ford, Ted McGinley, and Megan Fox, gave ABC its best Friday premiere score since 1996. Read Less

Ripa was born in Stratford, New Jersey, the daughter of Esther, a homemaker, and Joseph Ripa, a labor-union president and bus driver. She has a younger sister, Linda, who is a children's book author. She is of Italian and Irish descent. Her father has been the Democratic County Clerk for Camden County, New Jersey since June 2009. She is the first in her family to enter the acting profession. She has studied ballet since age three, plays the piano, and, in her words, is "no Barbra Streisand," but can carry a tune.

Ripa graduated from Eastern High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, where she became a cheerleader and was later encouraged by her drama teacher to pursue acting. "I owe so much of my career to Jim Beckley," she said. "He thought I was a natural performer and so he gave me the lead in the next show." She starred in local theatre productions and was discovered while performing in the comedy play The Ugly Duckling (c. 1941), by A.A. Milne, during her senior year. She attended Camden County College studying psychology, but dropped out and moved to New York City to be an actress. Read Less