Kelly Ripa Jokes About Doing the ‘Most Grotesque Thing’ While Seeing Richard Gere on Vacation

Kelly Ripa is recalling a funny moment she experienced with Richard Gere during a recent vacation!

In an Oct. 16 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, Ripa, 55, opened up about her and husband Mark Consuelos seeing Gere, 76, during their getaway. While she doesn’t clarify exactly what destination they were at, she began the tale by explaining how they invited the Pretty Woman star and his family to dinner — and an unexpected series of events happened after. 

“Mark Consuelos and I saw Richard Gere on vacation,” she begins, before adding, “and we did the most grotesque thing.”

After a brief pause, she reveals, “We invited them to dinner… and he said yes.”

Chiming in, Gere jokes, “Why? I don’t know.” 

Ripa’s story doesn’t end there, as both the co-hosts and Gere then get into how the dinner unfolded. 

Gere recalls, “We show up on time, which is rare anyhow. We and a bunch of kids, my wife — we show up on time. It never happens.”

After their punctual arrival, the actor says Ripa and Consuelos were nowhere to be found: “Somehow we got in the front door. We couldn’t find anyone there, there was nobody.”

“We wandered around this house — which is a beautiful house, by the way. I know you had a lot to do with that,” he continues, nodding to Consuelos. 

While Ripa and Consuelos’ permanent residence is in New York City, it’s unclear where this vacation home they’re referring to is located. However, Ripa later mentions “women running out of the ocean” to try and catch a glimpse of Gere during the trip. 

After waiting around at the house for a while, Gere then says Ripa “finally” made an appearance: “Finally she comes out, she’s got this robe on, she’s like floating through the house” he jokes. 

“No literally, a robe, because I had just gotten out of the shower because Lola goes, ‘Um, they’re here,’” Ripa cuts in, referring to her and Consuelos’ 24-year-old daughter. The couple also share sons, Michael, 28, and Joaquin, 22. 

To her defense, Ripa says she thought she had “at least a half an hour” left to get ready because “nobody’s ever on time.”

Gesturing to her outfit and glam, the mom of three then tells Gere that she “wanted to look like this for you, but instead I looked like I had just taken a bath, because I had just taken a bath.”

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Gere and his wife Alejandra now live in Madrid, Spain, after previously selling their Connecticut home for $10.75 million in October 2024 ahead of their international move.

The couple share two sons, Alexander, 6, and James, 5, together. Alejandra is also mom to son, Albert, 11, with ex-husband Govind Friedland, and Richard shares son Homer, 25, with ex-wife Carey Lowell.

During an April 2024 interview with Vanity Fair Spain, Richard opened up about why the pair made the decision to relocate to Spain, where his wife is originally from.

“For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends and her culture,” he said at the time. “She was very generous in giving me six years living in my world, so it is only fair that I give her at least another six living in hers.”