Kelly Ripa’s Surprising AncestryDNA® Test

Entertainment
15 November 2018
by Ancestry® Team

Kelly Ripa, an American actress, talk show host, and television producer is very connected to her Irish and Italian heritage. Yet she was surprised by the results when she took an AncestryDNA® test.

Her dad is a family history buff who’s done lots of research on their ancestors. So she was perhaps an unlikely candidate to find unexpected heritage.

But Ancestry discovered a few surprises in Kelly’s family story.

DNA Test Surprises

Kelly was expecting to see Irish and Italian in her AncestryDNA®test results. And she did. But what she wasn’t expecting was to see Greece in her results!

Kelly Ripa’s ethnicity estimate.
Ethnicity Estimate for Kelly Ripa’s AncestryDNA results

Ancestry’s Jenn Utley had a front row seat to the star’s DNA reveal, sharing Kelly’s AncestryDNA® test results for the first time:

“As soon as Kelly saw the Greece and the Balkans ethnicity estimate in her results, you could see how much it resonated. She confessed that she loves Greek culture—and that when she’s in Greece and hears people speak, she feels a real kinship and affinity for the language,” reported Utley.

A second surprise was that Ancestry was able to show Kelly that her Italian roots connect to two specific regions in Italy, simply by analyzing her DNA.

“While Kelly was in her trailer getting ready, I chatted with her dad. He was such a family history buff. I would show him a record, and he’d say, ‘Yeah we have that one framed on our wall.’ But he and Kelly were surprised to see the DNA test showed specifically that Kelly’s Italian roots connect to Calabria and Umbria, Abruzzo & Lazio.”

Sub Regions in Italy.
Sub Regions in the Ethnicity Estimate for Kelly Ripa’s AncestryDNA results

A Family Love Story

Ancestry delved deeper into Kelly’s family’s past: a search in their vast records collection revealed a marriage record for Kelly’s 3rd great-grandparents from County Cork, Ireland.

Marriage record of Kelly’s third great-grandparents.
The marriage record of Kelly’s 3rd great-grandparents from County Cork, Ireland.

This discovery inspired Kelly to share the story of her Italian ancestors.

Unlike Kelly and her famous romance with her TV co-star and now husband Mark Consuelos, these Italian ancestors had an arranged marriage.

“Kelly shared a couple of photos of her Italian ancestors with me. In their first photo, they were very serious. In a photo taken years later, surrounded by their eight children, they were beaming. She found their love so inspiring.”

Kelly also proved to be not the first person in her family with the courage to follow big dreams.

SS Galatia's passenger list.
The passenger list showing Kelly’s daring ancestor Palmerino Di Pretoro

A passenger list showed her great-grandfather Palmerino Di Pretoro came to New York when he was 14, with just $12 in his pocket!

What Will You Discover?

Like Kelly, you might have connections to parts of the world you never imagined.

Or your ancestors’ rich life stories could be revealed in some of Ancestry’s 20 billion records.

Start your journey of discovery with an AncestryDNA®test.