Madonna superfan Kelly Ripa gets emotional after joining icon on stage: 'I died'

Lifelong Madonna superfan Kelly Ripa fought back tears on Tuesday's episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, the morning after she celebrated a milestone marker in her sustained adoration for the pop icon.

In the aftermath of receiving an invitation to join the superstar on stage during a performance of "Vogue" at Monday night's Celebration tour stop in New York City, Ripa got her bearings as she recovered from the shock of facing her idol on stage in front of thousands of attendees at Madison Square Garden.

"I've had a 40-year relationship with Madonna — in my mind, to be clear," Ripa said, explaining that she was asked to join Madonna on stage while she attended the concert with husband Mark Consuelos and friends Demi Moore, Anderson Cooper, and Andy Cohen.

"I kept turning around [to look at them] because I was like, can you believe this is happening to me? Anderson and Andy are like, dying. They're literally dying, they're screaming, they're laughing, they can't believe it, I can't believe it, and I look at Mark who was there with his cell phone camera," Ripa said, adding that the walk up to the stage floored her.

"At that point, I, Kelly Ripa, died, so the ghost of Kelly is now walking over," she said. "I'm hearing words but they're not really making sense. 'She's going to give you a football, you're going to have cards in your hands, things are going to happen,' and I'm just sort of going, 'Why are you talking to me? I died, shouldn't the paramedics come?'"

Ripa then got emotional as she thought back to her 13-year-old self sneaking out of her parents' house (she told them she was "babysitting," she admitted) to go to her very first Madonna concert in Philadelphia.

"I spent all of my money on these scalped tickets, and we sat in one of the very last rows," Ripa said. "If you had told me — I'm going to get emotional — if you had told me, Kelly, 40 years from now, you are going to be on stage with Madonna..."

She trailed off, just before Consuelos praised her for the accomplishment.

Ripa joins a revolving door of celebrities who've performed with Madonna in recent months, as the singer-songwriter has regularly invited notable personalities to perform "Vogue" with her since the Celebration tour launched in 2023. Some names include comedian Amy Schumer, RuPaul's Drag Race star Sapphira Cristál, and Julia Garner, who was previously set to play Madonna in the icon's delayed biopic movie.

Live With Kelly and Mark airs weekdays in syndication. Check your local listings for showtimes in your area.

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