Lifestyle

GUM'S THE WORD

Kelly Ripa, 55, Left Unable to Speak After Painful Surgery

The medical procedure forced the chatty host to take a vow of silence.

Tamilore OshikanluContributor

PublishedJul 27, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT

UpdatedJul 27, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT

Updated Jul 27, 2026, 4:00 PM EDTPublished Jul 27, 2026, 4:00 PM EDT

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A “painful” dental procedure has temporarily silenced Kelly Ripa.

The 55-year-old talk show host missed Monday’s episode of Live with Kelly and Mark while recovering from gum graft surgery, leaving her husband and co-host, Mark Consuelos, to explain her absence.

“Kelly sends her love,” Consuelos, 55, said as he welcomed Jonas Brothers singer Kevin Jonas to the co-hosting table. “Kelly had a little bit—well, it’s not a little—she had a gum graft surgery.”

Ripa’s dentist had apparently warned her about the procedure years earlier.

“Her dentist said five years ago, ‘You can do it in about five years,’” Consuelos recalled. “And she joked, ‘I didn’t think I’d still be on the air in five years!’”

A gum graft is a periodontal procedure used to treat receding or thinning gums. A surgeon transfers healthy tissue—often taken from the roof of the mouth—to cover exposed tooth roots.

The surgery can reduce tooth sensitivity, prevent further gum recession, and protect against bone loss, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Although Consuelos assured viewers that Ripa is “doing great,” her recovery comes with a lengthy list of restrictions.

The most challenging order for the chatty host: She is not allowed to speak.

“Wow. That’s got to be the hardest thing she’s ever done,” Jonas, 38, joked.

Consuelos agreed that his wife is “such a great conversationalist” and said he has been trying to make sure she follows her dentist’s directions.

Ripa must also eat soft foods, avoid using straws, and resist the temptation to pull down her lip to inspect the surgical site—a final rule that Ripa seemingly found a loophole around.

“Last night she was like, ‘Can you look?’ I’m like, ‘I’m not pulling your lip down,’” Consuelos recalled.

Ripa instead tilted her head toward the floor, allowing her husband to examine her gums without touching her lip.

“So I’m down there like, ‘It looks great!’” he said.

The recovery has been particularly alarming for Consuelos because Ripa rarely complains about physical discomfort—even while undergoing previous procedures.

“Yeah, it’s painful,” he told Jonas. “But she famously doesn’t feel pain. When she goes into the dentist, she doesn’t use the Novocain. But this one hurts, so I know it’s bad.”

Jonas said his wife, Danielle Jonas, also has an unusually high tolerance for pain.

“I’ll be like, ‘Are you in pain?’ She’s like, ‘I’m fine!’ Come to find out her foot’s, like, falling off,” he joked.

“Well, they do have kids. They deliver kids,” Consuelos replied. “We’re not built for that.”

Consuelos previously attempted to challenge that theory during a 2024 episode of Live, when he argued that his foot surgery may have been more painful than Ripa’s three C-section deliveries.

“You did have three C-sections, and that’s very, very, very painful,” he conceded at the time. “But have you had foot surgery?”

Ripa is expected to remain off the air for the rest of the week, a representative for the show told People.

Jonas will return as guest co-host Tuesday, followed by Mila Kunis on Wednesday, Pamela Adlon on Thursday, and Scott Foley on Friday.

Until then, Ripa and Consuelos are reportedly relying on their phones to communicate—giving the host at least one way to get a word in while her gums heal.

Tamilore OshikanluContributor

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