‘Beyond friendship’ – Kelly Ripa steals focus with comment on David Muir’s sun-soaked vacation photo that sparks questions

The LIVE with Kelly and Mark host and the World News Tonight anchor have been friends for years

Kelly Ripa isn’t afraid to good-naturedly poke fun at her close friend and TV heartthrob David Muir, especially when it comes to their social media activities.

Kelly, 54, and David, 51, have been friends for years, with the LIVE with Kelly and Mark co-anchor having relayed the story of seeing the latter anchoring World News Tonight, being impressed, and finding a way to meet him, with the rest being history.

The pair have vacationed together often, and their families are also close, and when it came to the ABC News anchor’s latest getaway, Kelly couldn’t help but draw some eyes.

David’s newest photo had fans — and Kelly — in a tizzy

David took to his Instagram page on Sunday with a snap of himself riding in his motorboat out on the lake, likely on vacation, and captioned it: “Is it really nearly august already.”

With the sun beating down on him and illuminating his chiseled features, his dashing photo quickly caught the attention of many of his fans and followers, although the mom-of-three simply came in with a two-word quip, commenting: “Hello @gq.”

David’s followers responded to Kelly’s humor with other reactions like: “And @esquire too. Give that man his things,” as well as: “He is my dream man,” with even Monica Lewinsky chiming in with a row of crying-laughing emojis followed by: “…but also yes!”

The pair have been friends ever since David has been anchoring “World News Tonight”

Previously, when Kelly co-hosted LIVE with Ryan Seacrest, she shared some early insight into how her first days of friendship with David, saying: “I remember when I first saw David Muir file a report for World News Tonight. I didn’t know him at all.”

“I immediately cracked into the ABC News system email – which you’re not supposed to use unless it’s for news,” she confessed. “And I wrote, ‘Dude. You looked amazing tonight. Don’t know what was going on. Looked kinda dangerous where you are. But just wanted to let you know that you looked amazing. I had the volume down.’”

Earlier this month, David joined Kelly and her husband and co-host Mark Consuelos on their ABC talk show to discuss his recent escapades with his job, such as flying to the Vatican to cover the papal conclave, winning his third straight News Emmy for Outstanding Live News Program, and their move to Disney’s new headquarters.

“I remember when I first saw David Muir file a report for World News Tonight. I didn’t know him at all.”

“We have unfettered access to David in this building,” Kelly shared with the studio audience. “Sometimes we just go up and stare at him and he doesn’t even know we’re there.”

David quipped that “there are terrifying, gigantic images of all of us in this building,” with Mark adding that he was particularly fond of the enlarged shot of him riding in a helicopter.

The two often vacation together and their families are very close too

“I’ve got to tell you, I have some very indecent photos of me standing in front of your picture that I can’t show on the air,” the Hope & Faith actress teased. “Because they told me it was not suitable for broadcast.”

Kelly and Mark finally moved to the new offices at 7 Hudson Square in April, while David joined the rest of the ABC News team, including those working with 20/20, which he co-hosts with Deborah Roberts, earlier in the year. The last team to join them were those from Good Morning America.