Kelly Ripa has opened up about how she hid her second pregnancy from the team at Live - and how a psychic appearing on the show ended up revealing the truth live on air!
MORE: Kelly Ripa makes emotional revelation about youngest son Joaquin - husband Mark was 'choked up'
Appearing on The Tonight Show this week, the Live with Kelly and Ryan host was reflecting on her early days on the daytime talk show and recounted the astonishing incident.
When Kelly first began co-hosting the show alongside the late Regis Philbin in the early 2000s, she was actually only supposed to be a temporary fill-in, something which "took any stakes or any nervousness" away from the then 30-year-old presenter.
WATCH: The moment Kelly Ripa's secret pregnancy was uncovered by a psychic
However, Kelly explained that her "only concern" was that she was very early on in her pregnancy with her and Mark Consuelos' second child, Lola. "Nobody knew," she told host Jimmy Fallon. "Mark and I knew and nobody else knew."
Kelly indicated that she didn't want to tell the team at Live and blow her audition for the show. But when psychic Char Margolis appeared on the show as a guest in November 2000 the gig was up and Kelly confessed live on air that she pregnant, following the psychic's correct prediction that a "new baby" was on the way. Watch the incredible moment - and Kelly's emotional response - above!
MORE: Kelly Ripa's luxury $27million New York home could be a hotel
MORE: Kelly Ripa and daughter Lola left in hysterics in fun family video call
MORE: Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' unique living situation revealed
"They said, 'There's going to be a psychic and she's going to give you a reading, if you don't mind, because we're doing Psychic Week.' I said to Mark, 'I got to cancel, I can't do this,'" Kelly explained. However, her husband convinced her to go through with it, not believing the psychic would be able to tell they were expecting.
Kelly was hosting the show with Regis Philbin at the time
"Not only did she figure out I was pregnant in three seconds, but she was like, 'Your grandmother Dee is here," Kelly said, "And I was like, 'Hmm nope that's not her name.' And she's like, 'Esther, but her nickname is Dee.' Like, she figured it all out."
Despite Kelly's worries, she landed the gig of permanent co-host in 2001 and will celebrate 20 years on the show later this month. Today, she and husband Mark are parents to three children: 23-year-old son Michael, 20-year-old daughter Lola and 17-year-old son Joaquin.
Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
