David Muir shares rare insight into personal life as he reveals his unexpected tradition at Kelly Ripa’s home

Kelly Ripa enjoyed a special show dedicated to her on February 20, as her family and friends surprised her throughout her 25th anniversary episode of Live. 

The beloved TV star was joined by everyone from her children to her good friend, David Muir, who took time out of his busy schedule to pay Kelly a visit. 

As well as gushing about how amazing Kelly was – and how she made the job seem so easy – he also gave an insight into their friendship away from the spotlight, and the unique tradition they have. 

He explained that whenever they have dinner together Kelly and Mark Consuelos’ home in the Upper East Side, he’s always asked to begin them by saying: “Tonight from the Upper East Side,” – a nod to his catchphrase on his daily news show, World News Tonight with David Muir. 

He also reminisced about the first time he co-hosted on Live with Kelly – something he’s done a number of times over the past two decades. 

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“You’re there to greet whoever is hosting with you that day, and on a number of occasions it’s been me,” he began. 

“And as a gentleman, one of the things I’m supposed to do is take her arm, but what Kelly does is she takes their arm. And they are saying ‘ 30 seconds [until air], and you’re thinking ‘are you kidding me?’ but Kelly is just talking and she then looks into your eyes and says ‘you’ve got this,’ but the truth of it is, it means she’s got you.” 

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David and Kelly have been great friends for many years. In fact, David even got a special mention in the tributes section of Kelly’s book, Live Wire, where she called him the “backbone and moral compass I need sometimes”. 

During one of David’s stints co-hosting with Kelly, the pair spoke about their summers together. Kelly told the World News Tonight host: “I kind of miss our weekends together,” at which point David mentioned that they’d often spend days by the pool and barbecue together and did so at the start of summer. 

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She even revealed that her kids loved having David over, especially when it came to barbecues and other fun summer activities. “You are a great grill master, your cheeseburgers are delicious,” Kelly gushed. “Joaquin would rather eat at David’s than anywhere else on earth,” which left David smiling.