Kelly Ripa has faced some serious criticism recently for lying to fans about where she was quarantining. Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos, were on a trip with their children– Lola, 18 and sons Michael, 22, and Joaquin, 17–to the Carribean when instructed to shelter in place.
A source told People, “The family was on a trip in the Caribbean when told to shelter in place and decided to stay put.”
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Ripa herself explained the decision in a virtual town hall with ABC employees.
She explained, "We had planned a trip for our family, and it was supposed to be our entire family of course. And we arrive and three days later, the entire world changed, really. I mean, everything shut down; the government shut down; our country shut down. I hate to use the word stuck, but we were. We decided to stay where we were."
Despite the unusual circumstances, she decided, along with her cohost Ryan Seacrest to continue Live With Kelly And Ryan: "And then, you know, it was supposed to be a two-week trip and we wound up going right back to work. Ryan and I both decided it was better to do the show, because we just felt like in with everything that was going on in the world that perhaps, some normalcy of just doing what we normally do, even though it was like in very unusual circumstances, would be the best thing for us."
"I think people are unsettled everywhere, everywhere, across the country and across the globe," Ripa explained. "So, I think it's been a great benefit for us to have each other, to have our viewing audience and just to hear Brian Chapman's voice in my ear, our director first thing in the morning. It just normalizes everything as abnormal as it all is."
Despite Ripa's explanation, fans were quick to express their anger over her whereabouts--specifically wondering why she had not explained the situation earlier.
One Twitter user wrote, "She has been giving the impression that she and her family have been in NYC this entire time. Just be honest and not lie by omission. If you’re able to leave to be safer, that’s a good thing...I would do the same thing if I could. The cover up and explaining is worse."
