Kelly Ripa Admits To Having “The Yips” In Public Restrooms On ‘Live’: “I Will Hear, ‘That’s Kelly Ripa.’ And Then, Now I Can’t Go”

We’ve all gotten the “yips” at one time or another, and Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos shared their own experiences on this morning’s Live with Kelly and Mark.

The latter brought up the yips during their host chat, explaining that “it’s an actual brain thing that happens” and that the term was “coined by a pro golfer back in the early 1900s.”

“… ‘Cause he was putting and he couldn’t — When you golf, the amount of indecision from here to here, your whole life flashes before your eyes, right? So all kinds of things go wrong,” he continued. “And the ball is just sitting there, it’s stationary. You would think that it wouldn’t be that hard to hit.”

He noted that while golfers may frequently experience the yips, sometimes so do baseball players while attempting “the easiest throw” from second base to first base.

“A couple of them famously couldn’t throw to first base,” he continued. “

Ripa chimed in, “Second base man that couldn’t throw to first base? Is that like a psychological thing? Called the yips?”

Consuelos confirmed that it is, reading aloud with a chuckle that “it’s a polite way of saying they’re choking.”

“Some researchers attribute it to performance anxiety, though it could also stem from a neurological condition that causes involuntary muscle spasms,” he added.

Ripa noted “that makes sense,” highlighting that Consuelos “get[s] the yips [on Live] constantly playing Stump Mark.” After Consuelos agreed, deeming it “an involuntary muscle spasm in the brain,” Live‘s EP Michael Gelman said from off-camera, “Performance anxiety.”

Ripa said, “Performance anxiety. Interesting,” as she proceeded to offer up her own experience with the yips.

“I think I’ve had the yips, but usually at a public toilet,” she deadpanned. “You know what I mean? When you go into the restroom, and like, I will hear, ‘That’s Kelly Ripa.’ And then, now I can’t go. Even though I have to go, desperately.”

Consuelos asked, “Do you continue to listen to see what they’re saying?”

Ripe claimed that “at that point, [she’s] just so panic-stricken because [she has] to pee and it’s not coming out.”

“And I’m in there longer, and now they’re in there also longer, and we’re all in there longer,” she elaborated. “And I feel like saying, ‘Guys, can you run the water?’ Or something. I just feel tremendous performance anxiety.”

Ripa looked out toward one side of studio audience and asked, “Does that ever happen to you?”

After receiving validation from some who have also experienced this phenomenon, she thanked them and said, “Okay, I don’t feel so alone.”

Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. Check out their website for your local listings.