Kelly Ripa, 49, talked about how “funny” and “kind” the late John Callahan was during the Mar. 30 at-home episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan and it became quite emotional. The former All My Children star got teary-eyed when she mentioned her friend, who died unexpectedly of a massive stroke at the age of 66 on Mar. 28, to Ryan Seacrest, 45, and admitted that the news hit her hard.
“I had a really bad weekend this weekend. A very dear friend of mine, a friend for almost 30 years, passed away over the weekend,” Kelly told Ryan.”He was a great actor, a really great friend, one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. The ex-husband of my firstborn son’s godmother, Eva LaRue. His name is John Callahan. He was 66 years old, way too young to be taken from us,” she added. “Ryan, you never knew each other, but you two would have loved each other.”
The shaken up host also sent her well wishes to 53-year-old Eva, who was married to John from 1996 until 2005, and Eva and John’s daughter, Kaya, 18, during their difficult time. “He died way too soon. His daughter and my daughter are good friends. They’re the same age,” she said. “I just want everyone to know, Eva and Kaya, we are thinking of you and we are so sad. So devastated,” she concluded. “So I apologize in advance if I seem out of it. I really actually am, I’m terribly out of it. So forgive me.”
Kelly and her husband Mark Consuelos, 48, worked alongside John for many years on All My Children throughout the 1990s and early 2000s so his death has really devastated her family and the entire soap opera community. Before she spoke out on Live, Kelly took to Instagram on Mar. 28 to post a gorgeous photo of John and Eva, who was pregnant with Kaya at the time, along with a heartfelt message. “Because there are no words, all i can muster is Rest In Peace #johncallahan My heart breaks for you @evalarue and @kaya_callahan,” it read along with broken heart emojis.