Kelly Maria Ripa (born October 2, 1970) is a Daytime Emmy Award winning American television host and actress. Since February 2001, she has served as the co-host of Live with Regis and Kelly, along with Regis Philbin. Earlier in her career, Ripa played Hayley Vaughan Santos for 12 years on the soap opera All My Children; she also played Faith Fairfield on Hope & Faith. Both are television series on ABC.

Kelly Ripa was born in Camden County, New Jersey, the daughter of Esther, a homemaker, and Joseph Ripa, a labor union president and bus driver. Ripa's father has been a freeholder for Camden County, New Jersey since January 2004.

Ripa went to Berlin Community School in Berlin, NJ, then attended Eastern High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey. She performed in high school plays and was discovered while performing in a play during her senior year of high school, The Ugly Duckling. Ripa acted in local theater and was a featured regular on USA Network's Dance Party USA – an afternoon teen music program.