Kelly Ripa is unapologetically putting a fork in the early helping of viewer criticism she received after sparking a dramatic Thanksgiving debate.
The “Live! with Kelly and Mark” host, 54, clapped back at critics on Tuesday’s episode after she was ripped for asking fans if they called the popular Thanksgiving side dish “stuffing” or “dressing” a day earlier.
“Get a life, honestly, just get one,” Ripa quipped. “Calm down. If you’re worried about this then congratulations, you don’t have actual problems.”
The debate started on Monday when the longtime television personality, born in Stratford, NJ just 15 miles outside of Philadelphia, claimed that different parts of the US use different names for the herb dish but the statement didn’t sit well with viewers across the country.
“Forget any political discourse,” Ripa said on Tuesday. “The real discourse are the people arguing about stuffing and dressing.”
Ripa tried to defend herself Tuesday by reading the article she mentioned the previous day that was published in “Better Homes and Garden” magazine.
“[The] article says regionally, it depends on where you’re from, whether you call it ‘stuffing’ or ‘dressing’ but you, you at home, informed me that I, Kelly Ripa, am wrong again,” Ripa added.
ABC
During Tuesday’s segment, Ripa only read the “sanitized” fan messages about the topic.
One viewer wrote into the show claiming “I always was taught that dressing was cooked outside of the turkey and stuffing is cooked inside of the turkey.”
Ripa’s co-host and husband of 28 years, Mark Consuelos, jumped in and said his mom would do that.
Another viewer wrote to the show, saying their family was Pennsylvania Dutch and they call the dish “filling.”
Ripa stood up and joked that viewers better not reach out to correct her regarding the “filling” comment but she did smirk while reading the next comment from a family whose daughter attended college in the South.
“Imagine her confusion when the cafeteria worker asked her if she wanted gravy on her dressing and she replied, “No thank you, why would anyone want gravy on their salad dressing?”
Consuelos, 53, asked if the “materials” were different and his wife said they were not.
“Thank you for setting me straight, internet,” Ripa joked.
The segment ended with Consuelos sharing that according to a new report, for the third year in a row, Americans declared that sides are the star of the Thanksgiving table.
“56% prefer eating sides over turkey,” Consuelos claimed while adding that the “stuffing/dressing” was marked as the favorite side dish above mashed potatoes and green bean casserole for most generations.