The 'Live With Kelly and Ryan' co-host was full of surprises.
The Comic-Con gods smiled down at us when Kelly Ripa was announced as moderator for Sunday's Riverdale panel!
The Live With Kelly and Ryan co-host absolutely killed it on stage from the very beginning, setting the tone when she hilariously introduced husband Mark Consuelos (who plays Hiram Lodge on the CW hit) as her "baby daddy."
But it wasn't all fun and games for Ripa, whose bestie, Andy Cohen, made a cameo on Riverdale last season. She was also there to learn the hard facts. "If there's one crime you haven't committed, what would it be?" she asked Consuelos of his conniving character.
"I’d tell you but I’d have to kill you," he joked. "Right now, he’s going to focus on being a thorn in his daughter’s side. They’re going to butt heads. He’s gotta keep his eye on Hermione, because she’s gunning for him.”
It wasn't all about Consuelos. In fact, Ripa got the cast -- K.J. Apa, Camila Mendes, Lili Reinhart, Cole Sprouse, Luke Perry, Mädchen Amick, Marisol Nichols, Madelaine Petsch, Ashleigh Murray, Casey Cott and Skeet Ulrich -- to cast their vote for the hottest Riverdale dad, and it was Ulrich's FP Jones that won the top spot. (But he may have to watch his back, as showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa revealed that Apa often requests to act his scenes out shirtless -- which Ripa couldn't help but rib the young actor about).
Ripa also asked about the show's growing collection of famous fans. "Andrew Garfield walked up to us at the Met Gala and said, 'I just want to say I'm a huge fan,'" Sprouse confessed of his appearance at the Met Gala in May with real-life girlfriend Reinhart -- adding that Kate Moss surprisingly also made the list.
As for the really juicy details about the show, Ripa got those from the cast too. According to Reinhart, after her dad, Hal, was revealed as the Black Hood, Betty "spent her summer doing an internship, and she was really distracting herself." Season three will pick up three months after the events of the season two finale.
"Alice and Polly attack her. Their new, weird spirituality with the farm makes them tell her that she needs to listen to her soul and confront her problems," she continued, as it was revealed that the leader of the farm will be introduced this season. "So Betty wants to stay far, far away from them."
"Veronica's going to be an entrepreneur in season three. She needs to make her own money, so she's working at Pop's, just hustling. We'll show that she's not a spoiled, rich girl. She's trying to prove herself to everybody," Mendes added of her character -- who is going to have a "tough" time staying together with Archie after his arrest. "It'll shake things up."
During an interview with ET on Saturday, Consuelos revealed that his wife was really doing her research to prepare for the panel. "She knows more about season three than I do," Consuelos confessed. "She spoke to Roberto. She has some tidbits."
See more from ET's interview with the Riverdale cast -- including additional updates on Choni and Bughead -- in the video below.
Riverdale returns this October on The CW.
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