Kelly Ripa Claims She Was Forced To Work Out Of A Janitor's Closet For Years While Hosting 'Live!'

Television host Kelly Ripa opened up about her early days on Live! With Regis and Kelly — and claimed that she was forced to work out of a janitor's closet when she started the show, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Ripa revealed that her first few years on the Live! set were difficult, alleging she had to fight for functional office space, even as the show's co-host.

In an interview with Variety, Ripa revealed what life was like working with Regis Philbin on the hit daytime show and the challenges she faced while doing so.

The television vet claimed that when she first joined the show, she was told she "couldn't have an office." Ripa explained that it "didn't make a whole lot of sense" at the time because there were numerous empty rooms in the building.

Ripa claimed that she was told the empty offices had been reserved for executives who would fly in from Los Angeles on occasion. It was after four years of working on the show that Ripa finally got her own private workspace — and a bathroom.

Unfortunately, the co-host was not given a lavish corner office or even a moderate room without a view.

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Instead, Ripa claimed she was gifted with a janitor's closet to use as a makeshift workspace. The closet had been cleared out and a desk was left for Ripa.

After her famous co-host Philbin left the network in 2011, Ripa alleged that she was forbidden from occupying his office, even though he was no longer using it.

"They said, 'Oh, no, we're saving that.' And I said, 'Saving it for what?' And they go, 'Well, for when the new guy comes," Ripa recalled having to fight for a proper workspace. "And I looked at them, and I said, 'I am the new guy."

"All of those offices that were not available to me were suddenly made available [to others], with walls knocked down to make them twice as big," Ripa continued. "It was fascinating for me to watch — the need to make the new guy comfortable and respected, but I couldn't use those offices. I had to use the broom closet."

Ripa also alleged that she dealt with sexism not only in regard to her own private office but her choice of restrooms as well. The star said she was forced to use the same restroom as the studio audience, even when she was pregnant.

"We have a studio audience — like 250 people! — and I have to queue up. Particularly when I was pregnant, it was extraordinarily exhausting to have to wait in line," Ripa said on having to wait with audience members for a bathroom stall. "I have to host the show, and I'm still waiting in line to use the bathroom."

"It just seemed, you know, a very needlessly difficult situation," the tv host added.