Livin' large with Kelly: Morning-show host wowed by Banff's beauty!

Kelly Ripa began her four-episode salute to Banff Sunday morning in suitably Canuck fashion, marching down the aisle at the Banff Centre flanked by solemnlooking Mounties in full dress uniform.
As the crowd cheered, eight Mounties – four for Ripa and four for husband and co-host Mark Consuelos – helped kick off LIVE! with Kelly by escorting the couple to the custom-built set at the 959-seat Eric Harvie Theatre. Elk-antler chandeliers and the stunning vista of Lake Louise pasted onto the backdrop helped give the set a cosy, mountain-cabin vibe.
“Please get on an airplane or a horse,” Ripa said at the beginning of the first show, presumably to her large American fan base. “Because it’s pretty spectacular.”
Two episodes were shot Sunday: the first airs this morning and the other on Tuesday with co-host Chris Harrison of the Bachelor franchise. Both episodes were energetic and full of Canadianisms – from the talk about beer and poutine, to the ice sculptures, cat skiing and dogsled racing, to the moose-adorned coffee cups. There was even a shout-out to the Herald, when Consuelos held up Sunday’s edition to show the coverage of Ripa’s white-hat ceremony at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise Saturday morning.
Predictably, the Canuck crowd ate up the unabashed cheerleading for the Great White North.
“They’re the best,” Ripa said in an interview Sunday afternoon at the Banff Centre after the tapings.
“They are the most enthusiastic. They give it to you. When they laugh, they laugh big, they laugh hard. It’s not a chuckle, it’s a falldown kind of laugh. When you have an entire amphitheatre of people laughing that way, it makes you feel so funny and it frees you to go further than you probably would.”
Ripa, who is here without her three children, says she is already planning a return trip.
“I’d be very interested to celebrate Christmas here, I bet it’s just spectacular,” she said. “It almost expect to see elves making toys outside my window when I wake up in the morning. It’s such as special place. Mark and I were so happy to have a couple of days just to ourselves.
“But everywhere we go and everything we do, we turn to each other and say, ‘Gee, I wish the kids were here, they’d really get a kick out of this,’ or, ‘They would love the taste of this.’ Like rattlesnake fondue. We can’t wait to bring them back. We’re coming back. It’s not enough time and there’s too much here to explore. It feels like we’ve just got to experience a fingernail full. I want at least an armful and I’ve only gotten the fingernail, which is so great when you can do a week’s worth of shows and you haven’t even scratched the surface.
“As beautiful as it is in photos and online and even on video, it’s not the same. You have to see it in person.”
Guests for today’s show included American Reunion star Jason Biggs, American Idol cast-off Heejun Han and Calgary’s Scott Harrison, a champion ice carver. Tuesday’s show features Glee’s Jayma Mays, Canadian comedian Caroline Rhea and an energetic performance by electro-pop group Far East Movement. It kicks off with a spirited hoedown by the Calgary Fiddlers, a group made up of local teenagers.
Alongside the snowy side trips that included dogsledding, ice-sculpting and cat skiing, Ripa and her co-hosts offered some familiar LIVE! with Kelly fodder: kids, food, parenting and giving executive producer Michael Gelman a hard time.
Apparently moved by the romance of the surroundings, husband and wife co-hosts also offered what Ripa described as “too many sexual barbs for one show.”
Producers couldn’t have asked for better weather, even if the Saturday’s snowfall did make the mountainous trip up to the Banff Centre a touch treacherous Sun-day morning. But relative warmth and snow-covered trees made for a serene backdrop.
And no one went home disappointed.
While fans began lining up at the Banff Centre at 6: 30 a.m. Sunday morning for standby tickets, everyone in line got in. In fact, many were encouraged to stay for the second taping in the afternoon, suggesting it was not sold-out or that some people who had received tickets via an online lottery did not show up.
“We drove in yesterday. I’m a big fan of hers,” said Joanne Turner of Kelowna, B.C., who arrived at the theatre at 6: 30 a.m. Sunday. “She’s so down-to-earth. She normal and she’s funny. I never miss a show. I went to New York to see Regis and Kelly a couple of years ago.”
Emily Bontje and mom Kathy Bontje, from Calgary and Red Deer respectively, dragged visiting Aussie friend Kate Stubbings out of bed at 6: 30 a.m. to wait in line, equipped with lawn chairs for the wait.
“This is part of the Alberta ad-venture, I think,” Stubbings said.
Tapings continue today at the Banff Theatre for shows that will air Wednesday and Thurs-day morning on CTV and ABC. Wednesday’s feature Twilight’s Peter Facinelli as co-host and guest Johnny Galecki of the Big Bang Theory. Thursday’s co-host is Ben Mulroney and guests include Canadian GCB star David James Elliott and Toronto R&B artist Melanie Fiona.
Those who want to be on standby for Monday’s taping should arrive at least two hours prior to the 10 a.m. and 12: 30 p.m. shows. There is no parking at the Banff Centre. Complimentary shuttles run from 6: 30 a.m. to 3: 30 p.m. and will pick people up at 131 Banff Ave, 319 Banff Ave. and the train station parking lot on Rail-way Avenue
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Livin+large+with+Kelly/6395949/story.html#ixzz1quabkft0