Kelly Ripa New Co-Host: Rob Lowe Could Replace Michael Strahan On ‘Live’
Kelly Ripa is still in need of a new co-host and a new report claims that there’s another guy in the running. According to Entertainment Tonight, Rob Lowe is in “serious talks” with producers to join Live! as Kelly Ripa’s sidekick. This is really the first time that Lowe’s name has been mentioned when trying to figure out who would be sitting next to Ripa on a full-time basis.
#EXCLUSIVE: @RobLowe in talks to join @KellyRipa as co-host on #LiveWithKelly https://t.co/HpHOrakiyK pic.twitter.com/NPKXyNnOm9
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) May 26, 2016
Over the past few weeks — since Michael Strahan announced he was leaving the show to head over to Good Morning America full-time — several names had been circulating. Jerry O’Connell, Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen, and Mario Lopez were all thought to be in the running, no mention of this Rob Lowe fella.
And then, as previously reported by the Inquisitr, fans of Live! ended up falling in love with Fred Savage, who co-hosted with Kelly Ripa for two shows last week.
Kelly Ripa had great chemistry with her fill-in co-host, who did a fantastic job. Not only was he hilarious, but he really kept up with Kelly and was able to hold his own during both the host chat and the interviews that followed. While social media users demanded that Savage be offered a contract (#HireFredNow), chatter about those possibilities gave way to someone or, rather, someone else.
Could Rob Lowe be on his way to join Kelly Ripa full-time on #KellyandMichael? https://t.co/IGELic2tbw pic.twitter.com/U7WhWRplOO
— UPROXX (@UPROXX) May 26, 2016
Rob Lowe was reportedly up for the running to join Kelly Ripa on Live! after Regis Philbin left the show back in 2012. Now, he’s back in the race. According to Entertainment Tonight, Lowe is a “free agent” following the cancellation of The Grinder, which aired on Fox. Rob Lowe has said that he really enjoys doing the show — and it sounds like he is interested in joining Kelly on daily basis.
“I hosted it with Kelly and had the time of my life. I love her… I love being able to talk to an audience every morning like that and just being fun, counter-punching, being silly, and talking about cool stuff,” Lowe said recently. “My kids are out of the house, they weren’t then. Who knows… But listen, man, I don’t want to go up against Anderson Cooper. I don’t know if I’m going to go back as an actual guest host yet… You never know! You never know,” he added.
Kelly Ripa knows that she’s going to need a co-host before the start of the new season of Live! Sources connected to the show have said that the producers want to have someone ink a deal before the show goes on its annual summer hiatus. That means that someone will have to accept an offer in the next couple of weeks.
Ripa will have somewhat of a say in who gets to sit beside her every morning, but the ultimate decision lies in the hands of the people behind the scenes (or, in Michael Gelman’s case, not-so-behind-the-scenes).
Who would you like to see as Kelly Ripa’s new co-host on Live!? Do you think Rob Lowe would be a good choice or would you prefer someone else? Post your thoughts in the comments section below!
[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]
