Kelly Ripa had a rare moment of vulnerability on Wednesday’s episode of “Live with Kelly and Ryan” that ended with not only her in tears, but her co-host, Ryan Seacrest, as well.
On the October 25 broadcast, Ripa told a story about her youngest son, Joaquin, who started as a freshman in high school in September. The host got very choked up and emotional talking about his struggle with dyslexia and how she recently got some news that he’s on the winning end of that struggle.
“A lot of you that watch the show know he has dyslexia, so school has always been a very big challenge for us in our household,” she said. “So, I went to his new school for a parent-teacher conference… he’s getting straight A’s. And so I broke down crying in the middle of the parent-teacher conference.”
The star, who Us Weekly notes is a mom to Michael, 20, and Lola, 16, as well, joked that the teachers saw her crying and felt the need to reassure her that they just delivered good news.
“I had to wait three kids to hear these words.”
She went on to explain that her son received word of his grades before she did, but managed to keep them a secret from her so that she’d be surprised when the big moment came. However, when it did, he laughed uncomfortably while she cried tears of joy. While the 47-year-old host fought back her tears on set, Seacrest tried to share some inspiring words with her, but couldn’t handle seeing her cry.
“I see the way you handle career, and most importantly family… and it’s so impressive,” he said of Ripa and her husband, Mark Consuelos. “I am inspired by it, and anybody who knows you and watches you agrees. When my mom cries, it makes me cry, so when you cry, it makes me cry… It’s like a trigger.”
This isn’t the first time that Ripa has gushed publicly over her son’s academic achievements. In June, she posted a photo of her whole family celebrating Joaquin’s graduation from middle school. The family posed together surrounding the youngster in his green cap and gown. Later, they celebrated the big occasion with a star-studded party.
Now it seems that the family has something else to celebrate given Joaquin’s impressive performance in high school so far.