Kelly Ripa is haunted every time she meets fans: ‘I’m So Panic Stricken’

Kelly Ripa is revealing her secret anxiety.

On Thursday’s episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, Ripa, 53, told husband and co-host Mark Consuelos why she struggles to use public restrooms after being recognized by fans.

“When [I] go into the restroom, and I will hear, ‘That’s Kelly Ripa!’ Now, I can’t go,” she said. “Even though I have to go desperately.”

Her “tremendous performance anxiety” has taken over anytime she tried to use a public bathroom, Ripa said. Consuelos, 53, had some questions about his wife’s situation.

“Do you continue to listen to see what they’re saying?” he asked.

Ripa replied: “At that point I’m just so panic-stricken because I have to pee and it’s not coming out, and I’m in there longer, and now they’re in there also longer, and we’re all in there longer.”

She added: “I feel like saying, ‘Guys, can you run the water or something?'”

Just a few days earlier on the June 17 episode of their talk show, Ripa and Consuelos had a more heartwarming segment when they reunited with the baby from All My Children.

“Mark and I had a baby on All My Children, baby Enzo,” Ripa said to the audience. “And we’ve often wondered: what ever happened to baby Enzo? Where is baby Enzo? And baby Enzo is in our audience today.”

The camera then panned to the audience, where a young woman was sitting holding a photo of Ripa and her as a baby. She joked that she had to play a boy because her twin brother “didn’t have enough hair.”

“Hollywood is a cruel place,” Ripa laughed as Consuelos questioned, “How’s his hair now?”

Her brother “has a lot of hair now,” the woman said, and he’s “a little jealous.” She also revealed she is turning 23 soon, the same as Ripa and Consuelos’ daughter, Lola.

“I’m actually three days younger than your daughter so I guess on the set, my mom held Lola and you held me,” she said.

“I’m happy to see you,” Ripa told her.