Kelly Ripa, More Celebrity Parents Share Mixed Feelings About Empty Nests

Mark Consuelos, Candace Cameron Bure and more celebrity parents have talked about sending their kids off to college — details

On the fence! Celebrity parents have documented the ups and downs of becoming empty nesters over the years, from Kelly Ripa to Candace Cameron Bure.

The Live! With Kelly and Ryan cohost shares three children — Lola, Michael and Joaquin — with her husband, Mark Consuelos. While their eldest two children began their college careers at New York University in 2016 and 2019, respectively, Joaquin went to the University of Michigan in August 2021.

“The Graduate! #2021,” the New Jersey native wrote via Instagram when the teenager graduated from high school two months prior. The actor commented, “So proud.”

When Ripa and the Riverdale star’s youngest child officially moved into his dorm, she posted a serious selfie taken from their couch. “So far we are crushing this empty nest thing,” the Daytime Emmy winner captioned the Instagram post, alongside a sad emoji and a spiral-eyed emoji.

As for Bure, the Fuller House alum exclusively told Us Weekly how her empty nest felt when Natasha, Lev and Maksim were all moved out in 2019.

“We stay very connected by phone and by FaceTime and then meet up when we can,” the actress explained in September. “We work it out. I think the hardest balance is just for me not to overwork[with them gone], which can be my tendency, and just make sure that even though not everyone is at home, we’re still making time for one another.”

One year prior, the Dancing With the Stars alum felt “sad” thinking about her kids leaving. “I’m only a year or two away from it,” the Kind Is the New Classy author exclusively told Us in October 2018. “I have such a great relationship with my kids, my husband [Valeri Bure], does too. We’re just a really close family.”

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Candace’s empty nest became a “full house again” in April 2020.

The Los Angeles native told Us at the time: “Our conversations have been incredible. They’ve been great. We’ve been taking lots of walks and playing lots of board games and we’re in sunny California. We have a pool and we’ve been enjoying that too because the weather’s been nice. It’s just been concentrated family time [with] lots of cooking and eating.”

Keep scrolling to see more celebrity parents struggling to adjust to empty households, from Rob Lowe to Christie Brinkley.