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All week long, Kelly Ripa hasn’t appeared on TV.

That’s a little awkward, since this has left her husband to man Live with Kelly and Mark without half of the eponymous hosting team.

Why is Kelly gone? Who is stepping in for her?

And when will she return?

Where is she?

On Thursday, July 30, Pamela Adlon sat with Mark Consuelos as his guest co-host on Live With Kelly and Mark.

Adlon is only one guest host in a rotation.

Meanwhile, Kelly has been absent from the show all week.

Hunky husband Mark has provided periodic updates on her recovery.

Kelly, meanwhile, has only appeared on social media — mostly in reposted content.

Kelly’s absence is due to her gum graft surgery.

Mark explained to the audience that, while she recovers, she simply cannot appear on the show.

There are some surgeries that might allow someone to participate in a show remotely, if only to reassure fans.

But gum graft surgery, which addresses receding gumlines and helps to stave off tooth decay, is not one such procedure.

We hope that Kelly is recovering well and is as comfortable as humanly possible, under the circumstances.

When will she return?

Adlon appeared as a guest last week.

Thursday, she was a guest host on the program.

If you are not familiar Adlon is an actor, writier, and producer.

If you don’t know Adlon for FX’s Better Things, you’ve still likely heard the actor’s voice as Bobby on King of the Hill.

(Seriously, Better Things is pretty well reviewed. FX’s programming tends to be top-notch, as it’s one of the few remaining networks that seems to care more about television than about business numbers.)

There is not yet a return date for Kelly.

Or, if there is, it remains a tightly kept secret.

One has to assume (and hope) that Kelly will consult with doctors as she recovers, and will not return prematurely.

For her job, specifically, she’ll likely want to wait until returning to work is not only safe, but also presentable.

You can’t really smile into the camera and hide your gum surgery at the same time.

We hope that she is resting and recovering well.