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kelly ripa david muir friends birthday tribute© Photo: Getty Images

David Muir's true personality away from the cameras revealed by best friend Kelly Ripa - and it might surprise you

The World News Tonight star and Live host have been friends for years

Hanna Fillingham
US Managing Editor
October 18, 2023
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David Muir and Kelly Ripa are friendship goals, and are often appearing on TV together. But despite being one of the most famous broadcast journalists, David couldn't be more different away from the camera, according to his best friend. 

Kelly previously gave an incredible insight into the World News Tonight star's personality off screen, as she discussed his then upcoming birthday on an episode of Live back in 2018. 

The TV presenter admitted that her friend was shy, especially when it came to asking for things. She told then co-host Ryan Seacrest: "I've never baked him a cake. He's too ... kind ... shy about asking. But this time he said, 'I wouldn't mind a cake.'" 

VIDEO: Inside David Muir and Kelly Ripa's friendship

Kelly and her husband Mark Consuelos both go way back with David, who was even given a special mention in the tributes section of Kelly's book, Live Wire, where she called him the "backbone and moral compass I need sometimes". 

Kelly was there for David to show her support just last month, when he received the news of his upcoming Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. She wrote: "The most deserving, congratulations!!!" after he shared the news on Instagram. 

Kelly has been friends with David for years, and called him her 'backbone'© Noam Galai
David Muir and Kelly Ripa have been friends for years

The Cronkite Award is named after the late CBS anchor, Walter Cronkite, and has been honoring journalists and media executives since 1984. David is the latest in a list of high-profile recipients, including Al Roker, Robin Roberts, Gayle King, Lester Holt, Anderson Cooper and Scott Pelley. 

Upon hearing the news of his accolade, David said: "Walter Cronkite famously guided this country through some of the most trying moments in modern U.S. history and he did so by trusting his own compass, his deep commitment to journalism and the truth, and his willingness, in the darkest of times, to share his own humanity. 

david muir kelly ripa candid photo© Photo: Instagram
David Muir and Kelly Ripa often appear on TV together

"To be honored in Cronkite’s name, is not only deeply humbling, it’s a call for us all to live up to those standards especially when they’re needed most.” 

David has also joined Kelly and Mark on their family holidays on several occasions, most recently this summer. In July David appeared on Live to talk about a challenging situation that occured when the trio went to Greece and did a lot of walking - getting a bit too close to the edge in the process! 

Explaining that they had gone to all the "little islands" in Greece where they were "outnumbered by goats," David told the audience that Mark was in charge of getting the group around with his high-tech Google map app. 

David Muir and Kelly Ripa  on red carpet at
Save The Children Illumination Gala, New York, USA - 14 Nov 2018© Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
David Muir and Kelly Ripa on the red carpet

He said: "We would be on these trails, we weren't always convinced but he [Mark] always found the way... but there was this moment where we were so high up on the hills, and the water was beautiful... and Mark was leading the way, and then Kelly.... and it was close to the edge [of the water]... you could hear the pebbles..." 

Kelly then interjected: "it was like, are we going to be on World News Tonight?" "With me, but the wrong way," David joked. "The headline would read "David Muir and others found at the bottom of the ravine," Kelly added. "I couldn't tell them how nerve wracking that was until we were at the top. That was the biggest scare," David concluded. 

kelly ripa david muir head
David is good friends with Kelly and her entire family

Luckily, while the trip proved a little more scary than they had anticipated, the group all lived to tell the tale with great humor. David has been friends with Kelly and Mark for many years and is just as close with their children too. 

He spends a lot of the summer at their beautiful family home in the Hamptons, where they enjoy plenty of barbeques. During another previous appearance on Live, David opened up about their friendship while talking to Kelly. 

"You are a great grill master, your cheeseburgers are delicious," the All My Children star gushed. "Joaquin would rather eat at David's than anywhere else on earth."

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