Kelly Ripa Recalls 'Scary' Ordeal of Locking Her Dog, Keys and Phone in the Car: 'Mark Is Going to Kill Me'

Rachel McRadyTue, May 26, 2026 at 4:55 PM UTC

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Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos with dog Lena
Credit: Live with Kelly and Mark; Kelly Ripa/Instagram -

Kelly Ripa accidentally locked her dog Lena, her keys, and her phone in a running car over the weekend

A helpful stranger named Leo assisted Ripa by contacting 911 and arranging for casino security to stay with her

The ordeal lasted 20 minutes, and Ripa joked about Lena's reaction and her husband Mark Consuelos' potential response

Kelly Ripa is relieved that a weekend mistake had a happy ending after she locked her dog, Lena, in the car in a hot parking garage.

The 55-year-old Live with Kelly and Mark co-host detailed the story on her Tuesday, May 26, show, sharing how she attended the Palm Springs street festival over the weekend with Lena in tow.

After doing some shopping for her family, Ripa buckled Lena's dog carrier into the car, set her purse down and walked to the other side of the car only to discover it was locked.

“Door is locked,” Ripa recounted to her husband, Mark Consuelos, during the show. “Car is on. I put the key in the ignition. I turned the car on, put the AC on to cool it down for Lena. But it's locked.”

She noted that all of her belongings — including her keys and her phone — were in the car.

In the car garage that was connected to a casino, Ripa said she flagged down a man driving a van for assistance, telling him, “‘I'm so sorry. That is my car. I locked my keys and my human dog and my phone inside the car.' I said, ‘My human dog.' Because they need to understand this is more than a dog, it's a person.”

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' dog Lena
Credit: Kelly Ripa/Instagram

When the man suggested she call AAA, Ripa replied, “If I'm being honest, I don't know what AAA is.”

After the driver, whose name she later found out is Leo, let her call 911, Ripa discovered that police officers can't break into cars and was referred to a tow company. The talk show host added that Leo was being “very patient” with her but noted that, “His wife was in the casino. He needed to bring her money.”

However, Leo sent casino security out to Ripa to sit with her until the tow company arrived. Ultimately, the ordeal only lasted around 20 minutes, but Ripa joked, “It felt like three years.”

Kelly Ripa tells Mark Consuelos about accidentally locking their dog in the car on May 26.
Credit: Live with Kelly and Mark

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Once she finally got into the car, the incident turned comical, thanks to Lena.

“I sit down in the car. I fasten my seatbelt and Lena's head pops up,” Ripa recalled. “And she was like, ‘Oh, you have no idea.' She looked at me like, ‘There were strangers trying to break into this car. I stayed hidden.' ”

Consuelos, 55 —who referred to Lena as “my dog" — quipped, “She was like, ‘Girl!' Thank God you had the air condition on. That was dangerous.”

Mark Consuelos poses with dogs Chewie and Lena in 2024.
Credit: Kelly Ripa/Instagram

Ripa added that she was very concerned for the dog's safety for multiple reasons.

“It was so scary. And all I could think of was, ‘Forget the dog, Mark is going to kill me,' ” she joked of her husband of 30 years.

In fact, after she retrieved her phone, Ripa shared, “I had a bunch of missed calls from you so I was like, ‘He knows. The dog is [telepathically] communicating with him.' ”

Ripa and Consuelos are known for loving their pets. In February 2025, they shared the sad news that their 17-year-old dog Chewie had died.

At the time Consuelos called their decision to put Chewie down amid numerous health struggles, “one of the toughest things we've had to do as a married couple."

Live with Kelly and Mark airs weekdays in syndication (check local listings).

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Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”