On the Monday, April 6 episode of “Live With Kelly and Mark,” host Kelly Ripa revealed the original name of her current dog, Lena, was inspired by one of the female leads of MTV’s “Jersey Shore.”
The talk show host shared the news during the daily game show, “Stump Mark.” It’s a recurring trivia-style game where contestants try to “stump” Ripa’s co-host and husband, Mark Consuelos, with scenarios he likely won’t know the answer to. If he loses, a contestant wins a t-shirt.
Kelly Ripa Reveals Her Dog, Lena, Has a Celebrity Moniker
Former “All My Children” stars Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos adopted Lena in 2021. At that time, the couple were also dog parents to Chewie, who passed in 2025.
Decider reported that the topic came up after Ripa and Consuelos played “Stump Mark,” and a contestants gave the host two statements that could be true, or false.
The contestant told the hosts, “I named my pets after TV show characters.” The second statement was, “I teach rock climbing classes.”
During the segment, Ripa told Consuelos that “Lena is named after a TV person.” Consuelos asked his wife, “Who is she named after?”
His wife responded, “Her birth name in the shelter was Angelina [Pivarnick], after the character from ‘Jersey Shore,’” Ripa said. “We shortened it to Lena.”
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos Found Lena During a ‘Live’ Guest Segment
In 2021, Kelly Ripa hosted “Live” with Ryan Seacrest. She revealed during a segment in March of that same year that the family had decided to adopt Lena.
In a YouTube clip, Ripa shared the good news with Seacrest.
“The Consueloses have made a decision to adopt Lena,” she said. At the time, the couple were worried that Chewie wouldn’t get along with his new dog sister. However, that wasn’t the case.
“My whole fear was that I didn’t want Chewie to feel replaced in any way,” Ripa told Seacrest at that time.
Ripa revealed the family shortened the name to work with the name the dog originally had at the shelter, Angelina. Also it sounded like the moniker her children originally wanted, Leia, as in Princess Leia from “Star Wars.”
Lena’s brother Billie, who was also featured in the same show segment, was adopted by Michael Gelman, “Live’s” executive producer. Ripa recalled that all of the dogs from that litter were named after “Jersey Shore” characters.
Ripa told viewers, and Seacrest, “If you’re thinking about getting a dog, call your local animal shelter. Those dogs are just dreams.”
“Live With Kelly and Mark” airs weekdays in syndication.
