Melissa McCarthy tells Kelly Ripa she was bit by fire ants on set in Australia but no one believed her

Dustin Nelson

November 30, 2023 at 5:14 p.m.·2 min read

People on set weren't convinced she was being bit — until they discovered where her chair had been placed.

Australia can bring to mind a wild menagerie of venomous creatures, giant snakes, and fist-sized spiders. For Melissa McCarthy, that reputation isn't unearned.

Appearing on Thursday's episode of Live With Kelly and Mark, McCarthy recalled encounters with the country's bitey wildlife. "I got bit by something while I was there." She says "nobody knew" what it was that bit her, but she wound up packed in ice packs to keep the swelling down.

<p>Live with Kelly and Mark</p> Melissa McCarthy on 'Live With Kelly and Mark' — Live with Kelly and Mark
Melissa McCarthy on 'Live With Kelly and Mark'

"I kept getting bit by things," she continued, "and people were like, 'I don't think anything's biting you.' And I'm like, 'No. I'm pretty confident I know when I'm being bitten.' It's not like I have a weird feeling. I have bite marks. And then they realized they'd put my chair over fire ants."

She said that after they figured out that she'd been sitting over fire ants, the doubters finally admitted she hadn't been imagining the bites.

<p>Live with Kelly and Mark</p> Melissa McCarthy — Live with Kelly and Mark
Melissa McCarthy

While she joked about the creepy, crawly bites she received, she admitted that even those encounters couldn't keep her from falling in love with Australia.

Thursday's episode also saw the return of Kelly Ripa after a somewhat unexplained absence earlier in the week. Mark Consuelos was joined by the show's announced Déjà Vu on Wednesday's episode. "Yesterday, you could tell she was losing her voice a little bit. It's gone. It's lost," Consuelos explained on Wednesday. "She's going to feel better. She's just resting a little bit."

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