Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are kicking off a new era for LIVE with Kelly and Mark, one that is finally moving forward after years in the making.
The long-running daytime talk show has been based out of ABC’s famed studios in New York’s Upper West Side, alongside the 60s in Columbus Avenue.
However, ABC is now moving base from its home for nearly five decades to a fancy new Disney studio in Hudson Square, west of SoHo formerly known as the “Printing District.”
The show’s latest episode on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, had been previously recorded as opposed to their usual live tapings, with the two dressed in all green to celebrate the holiday.
While Kelly and Mark haven’t explicitly confirmed the move is happening now, others from the ABC world have, including colleague and ABC News anchor Deborah Roberts.
Deborah hosts 20/20 with David Muir, a close friend of Kelly and Mark’s, and is also an anchor for Nightline and steps in as a reporter and special correspondent for other ABC News shows like Good Morning America.
© Getty ImagesShe documented her last days at the building, writing on Instagram: “Friday finish. Nearly 3 decades after I first set foot in the ABC news headquarters as a new correspondent, the youngest to join the 20/20 team, we are officially saying goodbye to the building. The place where network TV legends walked the halls and delivered the news.”
Recalling the initial nerves of her early days, Deborah continued: “I was thrilled and a bit nervous to join Barbara, Hugh, Peter, Carole, Joan, Charlie and a cadre of inimitable correspondents. What a moment.”
“Now, a bright, shiny space awaits us downtown to continue the great work we all love so passionately. Change and goodbyes are always hard for me. I am comforted by routine and the familiar. But change is the only true certainty of life, right? So here we go… making new memories.”
© InstagramKelly and Mark, who have been married since 1996 and share three children, first shared the news with their studio audience back in October, with Kelly also immediately letting her skepticism be known.
“You and I went down to tour the new studios because apparently our show is finally moving to a new location,” the mom-of-three said to her husband and co-host. “But that’s not going to happen for some time, and I don’t believe it’s going to happen.”
© Getty Images“No, no, it’s happening,” Mark quipped, as the Hope & Faith star replied: “I’ll probably still be here…I don’t believe it’s happening.”
The ABC buildings were sold years ago, first reported in 2018, by ABC’s parent company Walt Disney, first to Silverstein Properties and now to Extell, which owns a majority of the properties. “This place has been sold for ten years,” the Riverdale actor mentioned.
© ABC/LIVE with Kelly and MarkKelly joked: “Apparently we’re moving downtown to this fancy state-of-the-art studio in SoHo. SoHo where we used to live, which would have been convenient for us. But as soon as we move to the Upper East Side, now we want to move to SoHo. Okay, whatever!”
