“Is that a no-no?” Aiken asked immediately afterward.
“Oh, that’s a no, no, no,” riled Ripa responded. “I don’t know where that hand’s been, honey.”
The following week when Ripa’s cohost, Regis Philbin, returned to the daytime show, she ripped Aiken for his “hostility” and “impropriety.”
The bristling blonde further said: “There was a lack of respect, and when you’re a certain person, you’re in the public eye, you have to be respectful of other people. And I don’t think that he was respectful in any way.
“If that upsets his fans, I’m sorry to hear that, but you don’t put your hands over somebody’s face and mouth when they’re conducting an interview, even if it’s for a laugh.”