Talk Show Halloween Costumes: Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, More Musicians Inspire Looks on Multiple Shows
Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and other music stars served as major sources of inspiration behind the Halloween costumes displayed on morning and daytime talk shows this year.
Three shows featured hosts dressing up as Swift, with Today‘s Savannah Guthrie, Live‘s Kelly Ripa and The Talk‘s Amanda Kloots all dressing as the superstar singer-songwriter, with the latter two also passing out friendship bracelets in an ode to Swift’s hit Eras tour.
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Live With Kelly and Mark took the Swift inspiration one step further, dubbing their annual Halloween extravaganza The Eras Show as they looked back through different decades of pop culture and of Live‘s own onscreen Halloween celebrations. While Ripa and Consuelos kicked things off with their take on the Barbie movie, they doled out friendship bracelets in an homage to Swift and spoke about the Eras tour inspiration for their show.
Ripa even suggested, despite her and Consuelos’ Barbie costumes at the top of the show, that they were dressed as Swift and rumored boyfriend Travis Kelce: “We’re the most talked-about couple, but if you haven’t figured it out, we’re Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce going to a Halloween party. Halloween Taylor’s Version.”
After multiple costume changes, near the end of the show Ripa and Consuelos returned actually dressed as Swift and Kelce, with Ripa’s Swift wearing the sort of Chiefs gear Swift has sported on the sidelines and Consuelos wearing Kelce’s uniform.
Earlier Tuesday morning, NBC’s Today show was also in a musical mood, with the hosts of the broadcast morning show taking inspiration from their new 30 Rockefeller Plaza neighbor Kelly Clarkson for a “Kelly-oke”-themed celebration in which the hosts dressed as various music superstars.
Savannah Guthrie danced around the plaza in an Eras tour-inspired Swift costume and was even joined by her daughter, who sported a sparkly dress reminiscent of one Swift wore during her concerts this summer.
Today and Live also doubled up on Sonny and Cher. Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb dressed as the iconic duo (Bush Hager as the late Sonny Bono and Kotb as Cher) and performed their hit “I Got You Babe” on the NBC morning show. And on Live, Consuelos and Ripa returned after one commercial break as Sonny and Cher (Consuelos as Bono and Ripa as Cher), in what they said was their tribute to the ’70s.
“We’re stepping back to an iconic era where bell bottoms, disco and variety shows reigned supreme,” Ripa said, later flipping her hair over her shoulder like Cher and quipping, “this is my whole bit.”
On The Talk, which also took a musical approach, Amanda Kloots dressed as Swift, doling out friendship bracelets to her co-hosts and tossing them into the audience. Fellow Talk co-host Sheryl Underwood, meanwhile, dressed as Beyoncé (or “She-yoncé” as Underwood dubbed herself) and was accompanied by Akbar Gbaja-Biamila’s Jay-Z.
On her eponymous daytime show, Sherri Shepherd also took on Beyoncé, wearing six looks from the superstar’s Renaissance tour as she sat down with Tina Knowles, who provided a behind-the-scenes look at the tour and weighed in on what it was like to see Blue Ivy Carter perform onstage.
Musician costumes also made appearances on The Jennifer Hudson Show, where the host dressed as Missy Elliott (in her “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” video) and delivered a tribute performance ahead of Elliott’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and on The Drew Barrymore Show, where Ross Mathews dressed as Dolly Parton alongside host Barrymore’s Bob Ross.
It's time for a very hairy Halloween! 🎨 pic.twitter.com/ZC1ENYqn9B
— The Drew Barrymore Show (@DrewBarrymoreTV) October 31, 2023
.@RuPaulsDragRace judge @helloross transforms into Dolly Parton for his first time in drag! pic.twitter.com/x8nsm789VI
— The Drew Barrymore Show (@DrewBarrymoreTV) October 31, 2023
Elsewhere, on Today, Carson Daly dressed as Neil Diamond; Craig Melvin was MC Hammer; Dylan Dreyer took on Pink; Willie Geist did his best Harry Styles; Al Roker was Lionel Richie; Sheinelle Jones was Diana Ross; and Saturday hosts Peter Alexander and Laura Jarrett were Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani.
Live took viewers to the BarbieLand-inspired HalloweenLand, where Ripa, Consuelos, producer Michael Gelman and executive in charge of production Art Moore, recreated the movie’s memorable dance sequence. Ripa then floated down from a Barbie dream house-inspired set in a gingham dress reminiscent of the one Margot Robbie’s Barbie character wears in the film and Consuelos, wearing Ken’s beach gear, slid down the slide to join her.
The show then parodied The White Lotus and Jersey Shore in a pre-taped ad for a new resort dubbed “The White Locust Seaside Heights.” In the segment, Ripa took on Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid checking into the hotel and was confronted by Snooki, Pauly D and JWoww.
And Ripa and Consuelos delivered a black-and-white take on I Love Lucy, or “I Love Kelly,” where Ripa played the Lucille Ball character and Consuelos took on Desi Arnaz’s part.
They also parodied Ghost (specifically the memorable pottery-making scene starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze) and the Vanderpump Rules reunion, in particular the Scandoval controversy surrounding Tom Sandoval’s affair with Raquel Leviss. Ripa portrayed Ariana Madix and Consuelos took on Sandoval, but the show also had fun with the reality TV star’s mustache, showing it getting larger and larger every scene, until it covered his head.
And they created an even more senior version of The Golden Bachelor with The Golden Bachelor in Paradise, where Ripa and Consuelos’ contestants fell in love while riding around on scooters and birdwatching, after Ripa’s Agnes B is slowly able to get out of her adjustable chair.
The pair ended the segment lying on the beach and saying, “We’ve fallen in love and we can’t get up.”
And Live looked back at its own pop-culture moments, flashing back to memorable cameos and theatrical, reality show and music parodies on past editions of its Halloween show.
Live wasn’t the only show to feature a Barbie costume, of sorts. ABC’s The View celebrated parent company Disney’s 100th anniversary with their “When You Wish Upon a View” special. Though the Barbie movie was released by Warner Bros. and based on the iconic Mattel doll, Disney’s Toy Story 2 featured a “tour guide Barbie,” allowing The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg to dress as the doll.
The other hosts dressed as memorable Disney characters: Cruella de Vil (Joy Behar), Mirabel Madrigal from Encanto (Ana Navarro), Carl Fredrickson from Up (Sara Haines), Neytiri from Avatar (Sunny Hostin) and Princess Jasmine from Aladdin (Alyssa Farah Griffin).
On Tamron Hall’s “Hall-o-ween” episode, the host joined the cast of the upcoming Broadway revival of The Wiz for a trip down the yellow-brick road. Hall dressed up as Dorothy and kicked off the show with a performance from castmembers Kyle Ramar Freeman (Lion), Phillip Johnson Richardson (Tinman), Avery Wilson (Scarecrow) and Nichelle Lewis (Dorothy). And the cast received a video message from Wayne Brady, who will be playing the Wiz.
#TamFam, you know we always BLOW YOU AWAY for HALL-O-WEEN & Season 5 is no different! 🌪️ “Ease On Down the Road” with Tamron as she transforms into Dorothy and brings the entire cast of @thewizbway along for the ride! pic.twitter.com/dWWoRvLe2P
— Tamron Hall Show (@TamronHallShow) October 31, 2023
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