Kelly Ripa Jokes She Won't Return to Live Set If She Has to Wear Pants

"I think we should build a studio that you can't see what we're wearing from the waist down," Kelly Ripa said

Published on July 16, 2020 10:29 AM

Kelly Ripa has one big caveat once she and Ryan Seacrest resume filming their ABC talk show in-person.

The Live with Kelly and Ryan co-hosts appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday, speaking to guest host Sebastian Maniscalco about when they expect to reunite at their New York City studio.

"We started this in March, and one of the things that we love most is the interaction that we get to have," said Seacrest, 45. "We have plenty of conversations just before the show, and of course we have conversations on the show. And as of now they're telling us September, that we'd be back in the studio in some way in person."

Ripa, however, said she has a specific demand for her attire once they're back in the studio.

"I'm not coming back if I have to wear pants or bottoms of any kind," the mother of three, 49, said. "I like this from the waist up sort of thing that we're doing."

"So I think we should build a studio that you can't see what we're wearing from the waist down," Ripa added, saying that her idea is "the only way I'm coming back."

"I think a lot of people will enjoy that," said Maniscalco, 47.

Kelly Ripa Jokes She Won't Return to Live Set in Early September If She Has to Wear Pants — Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ripa and Seacrest have been filming their ABC talk show remotely, welcoming guests on via video chat.

While cooped up in her own home, Ripa has gotten creative with her comfortable style choices. Last month, she co-hosted an episode while in a black-and-white striped beach cover-up.

“I’m wearing a literal beach cover-up as clothes now. I just slip that over my nightgown. That’s what I’m doing," Ripa confessed to Seacrest.

Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. kelly ripa/instagram

On an episode the month prior, the actress showed off another unique outfit choice: "the most comfortable” pastel caftan that husband Mark Consuelos gifted her over a decade ago.

“Don’t adjust your dials, I am wearing a caftan,” she jokingly said of the timeless style (first popularized in the 1960s). “I think Mark bought this for me, I want to say, 10 or 12 years ago, I think for my birthday? I don’t really recall the occasion.”

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ripa and Consuelos, 49, were sheltering in place with their children in the Caribbean amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The family of five were on a trip together when the ABC network instructed them to shelter in place, a source previously told PEOPLE.

Ripa and her family have since returned to their New York residence, where she continues to host her talk show remotely.

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