Kelly Ripa has spent 22 years as the host of a single daytime talk show, now earning a salary in the range of $20 million a year. She not only got movie-star rich as the co-host of “Live!”; she’s part of TV history, in a league of legends — Regis Philbin, Phil Donahue, Jerry Springer and Oprah Winfrey — who changed TV as they greeted millions of stay-at-home moms and dads each day.

Following in Winfrey’s footsteps wasn’t a path that the actress born and raised in New Jersey dreamed for herself. When Ripa joined Philbin on “Live!” in February 2001, after a fierce nationwide search to replace Kathie Lee Gifford, she was a bubbly soap-opera star best known for her years on “All My Children.” Since then, Ripa has maintained a cheerful (but not plastic) persona as she steered “Live!,” the most-watched syndicated talk show on TV, through divisive moments in our country’s history and three co-host changes. Through it all, she has remained a part of America’s morning ritual, as familiar as Folgers.

Ripa, 52, has kept the ratings up on “Live!” through three distinct eras: She’s clinked coffee mugs with Philbin (from 2001 to 2011), Michael Strahan (2012 to 2016) and her current partner, Ryan Seacrest (since 2017). She’s embodied a kind of Lucille Ball comedic timing as she’s effortlessly tossed softball questions to A-list celebrities and reality stars, responded to fan letters on TV and dressed up in elaborate costumes — from Peter Pan to Sarah Palin — every Halloween. To watch “Live!” is to feel like you’re among friends. Ripa’s voice is soothing. Her smile is sincere. She’s not annoying about her family (she has three kids, all in their 20s, who grew up in front of America), her hot husband (Mark Consuelos) or her friendships with other famous people (such as her gay besties Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen).

But when the time came recently for the announcement that Seacrest would depart the program they’ve carried together for the past six years, Ripa once again had to think about welcoming a new man into her daytime digs.

Ripa had known about Seacrest’s departure for a while. At first, it caused her some anxiety. She says her husband, who will become “Live’s” next co-host in the fall, consoled her about Seacrest’s decision to move on. “Ryan and Mark were like, ‘What are you nervous about? It’s going to be fine,’” Ripa says. “And I said to them, ‘You have to forgive me. I have a little PTSD.’” It turns out, even on daytime, one of the most powerful women on TV still had to fight to be heard.

Seacrest’s decision to join “Live!” in 2017 marked a turning point in Ripa’s professional life. She hadn’t been sure, before that, if she even wanted to continue on the show, because of the way ABC executives had treated her. For one thing, in 2016, they’d left her in the dark as they poached her co-host, Strahan, for a job anchoring “Good Morning America.”

But things started to get better for Ripa behind the scenes in the years after. Seacrest relocated to New York from Los Angeles to take the gig because of his friendship with her. “There’s no other show or person I could see myself doing that for,” Seacrest says. At work, Ripa and Seacrest hang out in each other’s dressing rooms, and on their days off, they text each other with restaurant recommendations and family photos.

“She’s one of the greatest broadcasters of all time,” Seacrest says. “To be able to come onto this show, do the first 20 minutes without any script and keep it thriving for decades — she has an incredible skill. She’s helped me get better.”

Ripa’s original elevation to “Live!” involved battling it out with every female comedian or interviewer on TV, from Lisa Rinna to Maria Bartiromo, in one of most competitive job searches of the early aughts. Many women wanted the job, but no one could channel Ripa’s ease and humor with such swagger. From the outside, it seemed like a dream job. But these successions are delicate matters; if you go down the wrong path — such as when Caroline Rhea replaced Rosie O’Donnell on her eponymous talk show in 2002 — viewers are quick to bail.

Ripa says it was the network’s idea, not her own, to cast her real-life husband as her next permanent co-host. Initially, she thought it was a terrible idea, but she realized the choice would work for the audience, which has watched the couple on TV and has been uniquely invested in their lives for more than 20 years. They’ve worked together since they first met on the set of “All My Children”; played lovers (again) in “Hope & Faith”; and jointly run a production company — Milojo — out of New York.

“I’ve got to tell you: Even during the tough moments, my wife, she’s a worker,” Consuelos says. “I’d like to think that she’s made a lot of sacrifices that have advanced the cause for women.”