Inside David Muir and Kelly Ripa's long-standing friendship that began with a sweet email
Inside David Muir and Kelly Ripa's long-standing friendship that began with a sweet email
Demetria Osei-TutuSun, November 8, 2026 at 10:00 AM UTC
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David Muir and Kelly have been friends for years -Credit:Getty Images for Save The Children (Getty Images for Save The Children)
David Muir and Kelly have been close friends for years.
The ABC News reporter, 53, keeps his personal life pretty private. There is no information about David's romantic relationship history but he has shared insight into his friendship with Kelly Ripa, 56. The two are both apart of the same ABC family: Kelly is host of Live with Kelly and Mark and David is a journalist at the network, who hosts World News Tonight.
It's not clear when the two began friends exactly but they have be inseparable ever since. They have talked about the other publicly, posted each other on social media, and attended events together. David has also, through Kelly, gotten close with her husband Mark Consuelos and recently in April showed him support for his play.
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The Mirror US takes a look inside David Muir and Kelly Ripa's close bond as the Walter Cronkite Award-winning journalist turned 53 on Sunday, November 8.
How did David Muir and Kelly Ripa meet?
Kelly recounted the moment she first encountered David on her show with then-co-anchor Ryan Seacrest.
"I remember when I first saw David Muir file a report for World News Tonight. I didn't know him at all," the All My Children recalled, per Hello!. "I immediately cracked into the ABC News system email – which you're not supposed to use unless it's for news – and I wrote, 'Dude. You looked amazing tonight. Don't know what was going on. Looked kinda dangerous where you are. But just wanted to let you know that you looked amazing. I had the volume down.'"
Kelly "cracked into the ABC News system email" to send a message to David when she first saw him -Credit:Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty ImagesHow their friendship has grown
From that moment, the two have developed a close bond. Kelly even included the anchor in the list of acknowledgements in her 2022 book, Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories. She wrote, "To David Muir, you are the backbone and moral compass I need sometimes."
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David showed love to Kelly over her book with an Instagram story which saw him holding a copy of it while out for dinner. He wrote, "Brought you to dinner @kellyripa." When Kelly also announced she was going on a tour for her book, David commented, "Look for me in line."
The two post about each other on Instagram -Credit:Getty Images
The two have also posted about the other on social media, including birthday tributes. Kelly posted a birthday tribute for his 50th with a carousel of photos of him, the two of them and one with her husband Mark. She captioned the post, "Happy birthday to @davidmuirabc, the man of the world as well as the world news!"
In 2025, David returned the favor with his on birthday tribute for Kelly's 55th on his Instagram Stories with a photo of them laughing "I know. I can't believe it either. Another year…happiest birthday @kellyripa. The rest of us are so lucky x."
Kelly also presented with the Voice Award at the 6th Annual Save the Children Illumination Gala in November 2018. Kelly had remarked when honoring the newscaster at the gala (via Broadway World), "I can't think of anyone more deserving than David for this award, because he chooses to use his voice as a megaphone for the forgotten."
David has guest co-hosted a few times with Kelly on her ABC talk show -Credit:@davidmuirabc/Instagram
David mentioned Kelly in his acceptance speech. He said (via Adweek), "I thank Kelly – a true humanitarian in her own right. Her quiet deeds – her quiet gifts – her relationship with a sweet young woman from Somaliland – inspires me to this day."
David has also guest co-hosted Live with Kelly and Mark (and its previous iterations) multiple times over the years.
The two go on vacations together
The two go traveling and spend holidays together. In November 2021, when David was a guest on the then Live with Kelly and Ryan, he shared his Thanksgiving plan and shared that Kelly has offered to be his back-up plan for the holiday. David called (via Hello!) Kelly "a good back-up."
David also spoke about being off-duty on the holiday and how his job makes things unforeseeable. Kelly attested to that with a story. She shared that her and her family were waiting for David at the airport and then they spotted him on TV.
Kelly and Mark go on vacations together with her family -Credit:Disney via Getty Images
In 2022, in another appearance on the show he spoke about spending his summer primarily upstate. Kelly said, "I kind of miss our weekends together." She then complimented his grilling skill and how her son Joaquin loves his food, "You are a great grill master, your cheeseburgers are delicious. Joaquin would rather eat at David's than anywhere else on earth."
In 2025, David and Kelly shared what their future plans would be when they leave their ABC TV jobs. David said that he and Kelly would run a doggy daycare.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
