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Ryan Seacrest To Be Named Kelly Ripa’s New ‘Live’ Co-Host

By Amanda Lynne
Published on: 00:46 PST, May 1, 2017

Ryan Seacrest is set to be named Kelly Ripa’s new Live co-host. The former American Idol host will be joining Ripa on her morning talk show and will replace her former co-host, Michael Strahan, who shockingly announced his departure from the show one year ago.

According to CNN, Ryan Seacrest will fill the opening as Kelly Ripa’s co-host and take on another high-profile job, as he’s becoming known as one of the hardest working men in Hollywood. Seacrest shot to fame hosting American Idol, but over the years has developed his own radio show, hosted E! News, and of course is the new face of New Year’s Eve. He’s also a producer on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and even recently extended his deal with the E! network to continue his hosting job for red carpet events on Live From the Red Carpet.

Last year, when Michael Strahan decided to leave Live, Kelly Ripa made no secret of the hurt she felt due to her co-star’s decision to switch over to the Good Morning America. In fact, Ripa revealed that Strahan had only told her of his surprising decision about 30 minutes before the press leaked the news to the world. The situation led to Ripa being absent from Live for many episodes.

Since returning to the show, Kelly Ripa has been going it alone. However, the lovable talk show host has entertained a slew of guest co-hosts during the year since Michael Strahan’s exit. While Ryan Seacrest was ultimately chosen to sit in the chair next to Kelly permanently, he had some stiff competition. Nearly 70 different people have been Kelly’s co-host in the months since Michael’s departure. However, it was Andy Cohen, Anderson Copper, Jerry O’Connell, and Fred Savage who seemed to have the edge and became fan favorites after guest co-hosting the show with Ripa.

On Sunday night, Kelly Ripa made the huge announcement that she was finally revealing her new official co-host on Monday morning’s show. Now sources are revealing that Ripa will be naming Ryan Seacrest as the man for the job.

“We’re going to need a bigger mug,” Ripa posted on Twitter along with a video of her drinking from a Live with Kelly mug with a question mark drawn on it. Previously, Kelly Ripa had revealed that there was a large number of people who wanted the job as her co-host, saying the list was “very long,” and that they were waiting for the “right person.” Cue Ryan Seacrest.

“What we didn’t anticipate was that we would have such an outpouring of interest, so our list got very long very quickly. So we’ve been trying to keep it as narrow as possible, but then people pop up.”

While fans were all rooting for their favorite co-host choice to win out over all the others, many have taken to social media to reveal their thoughts on Ryan Seacrest being Kelly Ripa’s choice as her Live co-star. Some fans were thrilled about the choice, knowing Seacrest is more than qualified for the job.

“I think that’s fantastic, though! Great choice. He is such a PRO,” one fan tweeted. “I think Ryan Seacrest will make a great host for Kelly. I’ve always admired his hustle,” another wrote. However, other viewers weren’t so thrilled with Ripa’s choice. “Live with Kelly really picked the most annoying and bland choice for co-host,” said once critic. “I’m glad I stopped watching a long time ago,” wrote another.

So, it appears that fans will soon be watching Live with Kelly and Ryan on weekday mornings. Kelly Ripa will make the news official during Monday morning’s show.

What are your thoughts on Kelly Ripa choosing Ryan Seacrest as her new co-host?

[Featured Image by Rachel Murray/Getty Images]

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