Most people know Kelly Ripa as the host of Live With Kelly and Mark, while others remember her as a soap opera star on All My Children. But Ripa’s career on the small screen actually dates back even further in time, as a surprising throwback video proves.
In a clip making the rounds on TikTok from a 1987 episode of the popular show Dance Party USA, Ripa — who joined the series as a regular dancer in 1986 — pulled out every dance move in the book as she got down to “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa.
The now 54-year-old was just a teenager at the time, wearing a tight black sleeveless dress with black-and-white striped panels on the sides and ruffled hips.
Fans couldn’t get over the way Ripa looked — not to mention the way she moved.
“Get it Kelly! 😂 Loved the big hair in the 80’s!” one person raved.
“Kelly had some crispy hair!” joked a second commenter, with somebody suggesting, “@Kellyand Mark Kelly is this your Halloween costume for this year. A flash back from the 1980s.”
Another TikTok user pointed out that “Kelly dances like Elaine on Seinfeld😁,” with another commenter simply declaring “Elaine.”
“Kelly betta werk!!!!” quipped someone else.
As it turns out, Ripa had plenty of dance experience under her belt before she was cast on Dance Party USA.
“I was a ballet dancer for 13 years,” she told Dance Magazine in 2017, adding, “And have the feet to prove it.”
