Kelly Ripa says she's wanted to 'find another career' for the past 20 years: 'I'm too old for this crap'

• Kelly Ripa said she's been tempted to step away from her role as a talk-show host for 20 years.
• For decades, Ripa has felt "too old" for the job and has wanted to "find another career."
• She said she's never felt comfortable in front of the camera and doesn't like the attention.

Kelly Ripa said on Tuesday that she's contemplated making a career change for 20 years, citing her discomfort in front of the camera as the primary reason she would leave TV.

The 50-year-old, who rose to fame as a soap opera actress on "All My Children" before becoming a mainstay on morning television, spoke about her gripes with appearing on the small screen during an appearance on "Just B with Bethenny Frankel."

"I've been saying that it's time to fold it for 20 years," the "Live With Kelly and Ryan" cohost said.

She continued, "For 20 years I'm like, 'I can't do it anymore. I can't do it. I'm too old for this crap. I can't do it. I need to find another career. I need to get off camera.'"

In 2001, Ripa officially replaced Kathie Lee Gifford as Regis Philbin's counterpart on ABC's "Live." From the time she secured the highly-coveted cohosting job, she said she struggled with being in front of the camera.

"I'm not very comfortable. I always say I could do my job for 200 years if it didn't happen on camera," she said.

Frankel asked Ripa if she feels self-conscious about her physical appearance or just doesn't like the attention that comes with the job, to which Ripa replied: "All of that. I don't like the attention. I don't go to parties. I don't go to Hollywood events. I don't do any of that stuff."

Ripa pointed out that she even dislikes listening to herself speak and finds her own voice to be irritating.

"I don't love being on camera. It's never been something that fed me in any sort of egotistical way," the Daytime Emmy winner told Frankel, continuing, "I find my own voice grating, so I apologize to your listeners if they're like, 'This is nails on a chalkboard.' I feel you."

While Ripa has held onto her "Live" gig for two decades, she told Frankel that she knows some people will inevitably dislike her. But the TV host said she's prioritized authenticity over approval.

"I don't think you can work in any field in entertainment and not be polarizing. It's one thing I learned right away. And I'm taking the acting off the table. I'm talking about being yourself, which very few people actually are," she said, adding, "I am myself. You may not like it, it may not be for you, but here's the good news: It's always the same."

Ripa went on to say that she tries to be the same person on and off the air but acknowledged that she walks a "fine line" as a representative of ABC.

"It's a corporate space, there are certain rules I have to follow," she said.

The year after Philbin left "Live" in 2011, ABC paired Ripa with former NFL player Michael Strahan. He left the talk show in 2016. Ryan Seacrest, Ripa's current cohost, took over Strahan's slot in 2017.

In February, Seacrest told Entertainment Weekly that Ripa was "very much considering retirement" after Strahan left to join "Good Morning America." Seacrest's "enthusiasm and his excitement" ultimately convinced her to hold onto her post, she told the outlet.

"The two of us are partners," Ripa said. "There's this energy between us because we both appreciate the amount of work that goes into making a show look effortless."