Kelly Ripa — $22 million

Kelly Ripa became a household name in the ’90s playing Haley Vaughan in the American soap All My Children. In this period, she also had a role in the Hollywood film Marvin’s Room, alongside Meryl Streep and Leonardo Di Caprio. But none of this helped her become the current host of morning show Live! With Kelly and Ryan.

Despite her profile from All My Children, Ripa still went through a live Audition procedure and beat out several candidates, including Dolly Parton. She helped raise the show profile with younger audiences and outlasted initial co-host Regis Philbin, now hosting the show with former Idols host and producer Ryan Seacrest.