Kelly Ripa reveals former costar Josh Duhamel used to play with her son on All My Children set

For those not well-versed in daytime soap operas, it may come as a bit of a surprise to discover that Kelly Ripa and Josh Duhamel were once costars on ABC’s long-running All My Children.

Kelly, 49, shared a sweet and nostalgic anecdote about their time together on the soap back then, just before the Transformers actor, 47, made a remote appearance on her chat show Live with cohost Ryan Seacrest on Monday.

The actress recalled how Josh would play with her son Michael, no more than a toddler at the time, on breaks between takes on set.

‘There’s a handful of people who were born to be parents that I’ve known in my life, Josh being one of them,’ Kelly said sweetly of Josh, before sharing her memories. 

‘He would sit and play with Michael, who was a toddler, for hours, and Michael used to call him the Iron Giant,’ she continued, referring to Duhamel’s towering height.

The actor is 6ft4in, which is especially intimidating for Ripa, who stands at 5ft3in. 

‘Josh, compared to his parents, looked like a giant,’ Kelly added, laughing. ‘He was like, “Who knew that adults came in this size!”‘ 

Michael is Kelly’s oldest son, now 23, and he has two younger siblings: Lola, 18, and Joaquin, 17.

Ryan, at 5ft7in, also marveled at Josh’s stature, joking, ‘Michael’s used to you, and me, and Mark [Consuelos, Ripa’s husband], miniatures in life!’ 

Mark, who Kelly met on the set of All My Children as well, stands at 5ft8in, also considerably shorter than Duhamel.

Kelly also shared that she grabbed her son during the virtual sound check earlier that morning before filming the show, so that Michael could see his long-ago on-set babysitter.

‘It was nice for them to reconnect this morning,’ she said.