KELLY RIPA JUST CHANGED THE CHRISTMAS RULEBOOK — AND FANS SAY HER NEW HOLIDAY MOVE IS GENIUS. As family celebrations grow bigger and more chaotic, the TV host is quietly putting a bold hosting hack in place that flips tradition on its head. What sounds simple is already sparking debate, laughter, and serious curiosity among fans juggling their own holiday stress. Some are calling it a lifesaver, others say it’s secretly controversial — but everyone agrees it’s very Kelly. This isn’t just a festive tip… it’s a holiday survival strategy people didn’t know they needed.

Kelly Ripa is leaning into a new era of holiday ease.

After she and husband Mark Consuelos delighted fans last month by revealing they skipped cooking entirely for Thanksgiving, the couple is ready to bring that energy straight into Christmas.

“My goal is to cater as much as possible,” Ripa tells PEOPLE in an exclusive backstage chat at Live with Kelly and Mark. “My new outlook on life is to do the least amount of work possible when I’m not working.”

It’s a shift that follows the success — and the serenity — of their unconventional Thanksgiving. The duo ended up celebrating that holiday in London, visiting their their daughter Lola, 24, and enjoying a family dinner at a hotel.

While they’re not recreating that exact setup for Christmas, Ripa says the spirit remains the same: less stress, more time together. “We’ll be cooking and hosting, but not too much,” she explains.

“A London Christmas would be nice at some point,” Consuelos adds — an idea Ripa likes. “Eventually,” she says. “We still have responsibilities at home.”

Despite the catering assist, the couple are keeping the heart of their holiday intact.

For starters, they’ve swapped their once-beloved midnight mass for an earlier, music-filled service. “We used to go to midnight mass, but we find that that’s difficult for us to stay awake for now,” Ripa admits. “So we go to an earlier mass and it’s like a Christmas carol mass with a lot of songs, lots of singing. It’s really nice.”

After church comes their traditional seafood dinner, and Ripa’s stubborn commitment to one particular Christmas Eve task.

“I still stuff stockings the night before,” she says. “[Mark] stands over me saying, ‘When are you going to be done with that? You know nobody appreciates this anymore.’ But the next morning, everybody appreciates having a stocking stuffed with stuff.”

There’s the Ripa-Consuelos household holiday, and then there’s the Live one, which is chaos of a different kind.

Daytime TV’s No. 1 entertainment show’s annual Christmas sweater episode is a favorite — and fiercely competitive among the audience, with a fashion show for audience members to win prizes.

“They are next level; I mean, the audience is wild,” Ripa says. “Many make their own holiday sweaters. Some start, like, last year making their sweaters for this year. It’s a big thing.”

The duo will rock four looks themselves, something that’s taken Consuelos some time to get used to since he joined the show in April 2023. “It used to be my least favorite show, because I just didn’t like the material of the sweaters, but I’m actually quite fond of it now,” Consuelos said. “I think it’s my favorite show we do.”

“You’ve grown fond of acrylics,” Ripa jokes.

And, of course, the holiday tapings always bring a little magic. “We even have Santa coming,” Consuelos says. “And the Rockettes. The Radio City Rockettes.”

This year, the Live team is also throwing a staff pizza party — on a work night. “Against my better judgment, we’re doing it on a work night,” Ripa jokes. “We’ll see … if there is a show the next day.”

Consuelos teases he’ll be monitoring “who comes in a little late.”

As for their own holiday mishaps, Ripa and Consuelos have plenty — particularly involving their Christmas trees.

One unforgettable year, when the couple lived in a loft in downtown N.Y.C., Consuelos tried to “fix” a too-short tree by elevating it on rooftop pavers. “It was standing on a five-foot box,” he recalls. “And for some reason, it smelled like cat pee.”

Ripa confirms: “We called it ‘The Cat Pee Tree,’ ” says Ripa. “It really smelled like cat urine.”

“It was a mess,” laughs Consuelos.

They’ve also had more than one tree topple over. “You’ve got to get them secured,” Ripa says. “Listen, the fact that more trees don’t fall is kind of the miracle … If you don’t get it secured in that tree stand exactly right, science will tip it over.”