| Rising TV Talk Star Ripa and Soap Mate Buy Trendy New Soho Digs in $2.8 M. Deal by: Blair Golson When the producers of Live with Regis and Kathie Lee informed 11-year soap-opera veteran Kelly Ripa in February 2001 that she was being tapped to replace Ms. Gifford on the five-tapings-a-week morning show, Ms. Ripa and her husband knew it was finally time to move out of New Jersey and find some digs in Manhattan. City records show that the search ended on April 29, when Ms. Ripa and her husband, fellow soap star Mark Consuelos, bought a $2.8 million condo in Soho. Although the condo is smaller than the couple’s old house in Franklin Lakes, N.J., the 31-year-old Ms. Ripa and the 32-year-old Mr. Consuelos have been bunking together on the small screen for years: The characters they play on the ABC soap All My Children are married, too. Their new real-life apartment, a full-floor loft, should have just enough space for their two children, 5-year-old Michael and 1-year-old Lola. Mr. Consuelos recently took an indefinite leave from All My Children to film a movie in Australia and was not available for comment at press time; Ms. Ripa declined to comment through a representative. The new place is a far cry from Franklin Lakes, a one-block walk from such Soho destinations as the restaurants Balthazar and Canteen, the day spa Bliss and Prada’s new Soho branch. Since assuming her co-hosting duties at Mr. Philbin’s side, the Live with Regis and Kelly show has consistently enjoyed higher ratings than it did during Ms. Gifford’s reign. In addition, Ms. Ripa and Mr. Consuelos have both been nominated for daytime Emmys for their performances as Hayley Vaughn and Mateo Santos. |
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| **Below is Kelly's old house in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey!** |