By Mark Gray
1:38am PDT, Apr 22, 2023
The R word
Since joining "Live" 22 years ago, Kelly Ripa has seen a few cohosts come and go, and she now says she might be the next one to jump ship. While speaking with Entertainment Weekly about her husband, Mark Consuelos, joining her on the daytime show as a permanent cohost, Kelly alluded to retirement. "Every time you get a new cohost, it's like a little jolt of energy," she explained. "But to be clear, I am always thinking about retiring. It is my favorite topic of discussion." Kelly went on to speak about how Mark was a huge factor in making her stay at the show. "But make no mistake, I do see a vision of the show without me," she said. "I am not one of these people that is like, 'The show can't go on without me.' I am a fan of Live since before I got there. The bad part about hosting the show for these almost 23 years is that I don't get to watch the show anymore, and that is sad for me. It is a franchise show; I don't believe the show begins and ends with any one host — I think it's collaborative. And I think the next few years provide endless opportunities to test new people out and see what the next iteration of the show will be beyond Mark and me. So it's a real thought process I always have." Sounds like Kelly and Mark — whose "Live" show debuts on Monday, April 17 — have a lot to talk about.
MORE: Talk show controversies and scandals
Cell phone code names
Shady business! Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss knew their secret relationship wasn't on the up and up, so they supposedly created fake names in their phones to keep the affair from prying eyes. TMZ reports that Tom saved Raquel's number under the name "Jamie" in his phone to try and throw his then-longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix off the scent. It's not known what alias Raquel used for Tom. Interestingly enough, the code names worked, as Ariana never caught on during the course of the affair. Tom, TMZ says, was somewhat cavalier about the situation, as she even referred to Raquel as "Jamie" in front of his friends. Tom has begun trying to shift the narrative of the scandal of late, even saying that he was brazen with the affair but no one noticed. On Howie Mandel's podcast he claimed Ariana had "heard things and seen things" about him and Raquel but chose to turn a blind eye. "Just to tell you how distant we were, I was seeing Raquel as often as I could… and FaceTiming her all the time and Ariana really just didn't even notice," he said. Ariana, for what it's worth, seems to have moved on, as she was video'd making out with a man at Coachella over the weekend. In a TikTok video, she said she was "amazing." While Ariana smooched her way though Coachella, Tom attended an event with former "Vanderpump Rules" co-star Billie Lee in Los Angeles.
MORE: Reality TV stars before and after going under the knife
Marketing ploy?
That super viral song from The Weeknd and Drake is too good to be true. Over the weekend, the collaborative song called "Heart on My Sleeve" was created using nothing more than artificial intelligence. But, why? TMZ, citing the investigative work of Mitchell Cohen of AppSumo, suspects that the song was actually a genius marketing ploy from a startup company called Laylo. Although Laylo hasn't confirmed it's behind the song, it's feeding into the theory (and not denying it) via telling emojis. "Laylo powers drops for some of the world's biggest creators and brands," the brand claims. The founder also recently tweeted about AI-generated podcasts from hip hop stars. The founder has also tweeted a lot about Drake. The future is here.
MORE: Celebs who've had cancer
Child's play
As a father of 12, Nick Cannon's modern family is just different. The "Masked Singer" host told People magazine that he rarely tries to corral all of his kids and get them into the same room because it just doesn't make sense. To hear Nick tell it, it "works a lot better" for him to spend individual time with his kids rather than get the whole group together. "I actually love stepping into their world. Going to their sports games or giving them their personal time for the holidays. So I have no problem with bouncing around," he said. For now, the kids — whom he shares with six different women — get together "when necessary," but he adds, the "only person that would benefit from having everyone in the same space would probably be me." The dynamic, though, may change eventually. "I think as everyone probably gets older, and even as I slow down a little bit more, I'm sure everyone will start coming to me in one place," he said. "I actually think it works a lot better [right now]. Because everyone's busy, not just me. It works to be able to take the time trying to go to them and show the value of being with them and not forcing anyone to come to me."
Thankful
Jeremy Renner has returned to the scene of his saving. The actor recently visited with the medical team at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, to thank them for effectively saving his life following his snowplow accident on New Year's Day. Jeremy took to his Instagram Story to share several images with doctors and staff. "I got to revisit the amazing group of people who saved my life," he captioned one photo with 12 doctors, nurses and staffers. "Thank you," he wrote in a text overlay while standing next to a doctor. The "Avengers" star was in the hospital for two weeks after being crushed by a snowcat near his home in Lake Tahoe. He was airlifted to a hospital with 30-plus broken bones, and he also required chest surgery, he told Diane Sawyer. The actor is on the mend, as he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show and attended the premiere for his new docuseries for Disney+, "Rennervations" last week.
