Congrats, Kelly Ripa!
The 46-year-old star was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame on Sunday, May 7 with the help of her adorable dad, Joseph Ripa.
“Tonight my dad inducted me into the New Jersey Hall of Fame and @RachaelEHarris captured the moment perfectly. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️,” Kelly captioned an Instagram pic of herself standing onstage with her father.
“How wonderful that your dad was able to do that. Very special, congratulations!” one of Kelly’s 1.3 million followers commented on the snapshot with another adding, “Congrats, Kelly — well deserved, much love!”
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Kelly was born in Stratford, NJ in October 1970. Her mother, Esther Ripa, worked as a homemaker while her father, Joseph, was a labor union president and bus driver. Kelly attended Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees Township, NJ before enrolling at Camden County College to study psychology. She later dropped out of college to instead pursue an acting career in NYC.
In addition to Kelly, rapper Wyclef Jean, journalist Connie Chung, and actor Ray Liotta were among the 15 new inductees into the 2016 New Jersey Hall of Fame.
Kelly with her parents in October 2015.
“I know that most of my family came to see [fellow nominee] Ray Liotta in person,” Kelly joked during her acceptance speech. “Being from New Jersey is not just where you were born. It’s a state of mind.”
MORE: Watch Kelly Ripa’s Hair Transformation Over the Years!
The New Jersey Hall of Fame induction ceremony comes just one week after Kelly officially announced Ryan Seacrest as her new Live co-host. After a year-long search to replace former partner Michael Strahan, Kelly revealed the exciting news to her loyal fans on Monday, May 1.
“He’s a seamless, seamless broadcaster. There is nobody better. There is nobody that understands what 30 seconds of conversation actually means in real time like Ryan does, and so he makes everything easy — it’s like a vacation with him,” Kelly recently gushed of working with Ryan.
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