Ali Wentworth's phone was tapped growing up because President Nixon thought her stepfather was a spy
Ali Wentworth shared a very Washington, D.C. story on Wednesday's Live with Kelly and Ryan. The 57-year-old comedian, who is filling in for Ripa as the talk show host tested positive for COVID-19, revealed her family's phones were tapped growing up.
Wentworth's mother was social secretary during Ronald Regan's presidency, her father was a reporter for the Washington Post during Watergate and her stepfather was editor and a foreign correspondent for U.K.'s The Sunday Times.
"As a kid, our phones were tapped during Watergate because President Nixon thought my stepfather was a spy," Wentworth told a shocked Seacrest. "So my mother sat us all down and said, 'Listen, I just want you to know that you're going to hear clicking on the phones and they're being tapped.'"
Wentworth had a different reaction than her siblings, who never touched the phone again.
"I was like, hold on a second. There's a whole audience when I pick up the phone? So I spent, like, a year-and-a-half going 'balls' and hanging up. This is really where Ali started," she joked.
The Seinfeld actress found herself back on the political circuit when she began dating former Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos. They've been married 20 years.
Wentworth joked how during their big first outing, the GMA anchor tried to impress her by taking her around Washington, D.C. — but she already knew everybody from her childhood.
