Kelly Ripa Co-Host: Michael Strahan’s Replacement To Be Announced Soon, Mid-August Guest Hosts Revealed
Kelly Ripa’s co-host replacement is soon to be unveiled. Prior to the upcoming season’s anticipated co-host announcement, Ripa has shared her Live with Kelly guest hosts for mid-August. Does Fred Savage still have a shot at the co-host chair? Will fan favorite Jerry O’Connell take the spot? Perhaps one of Kelly’s guest hosts this month will nab the coveted position. Ripa fans are tuned in as the co-host competition comes down to the wire.
As reported by The Wrap, the guests lined up to be Kelly Ripa’s co-host next week, August 15-19, include an eclectic smattering of diverse entertainers. ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir gets things started with Ms. Ripa on Monday, August 15, followed by Empire actor and The Mighty Ducks alum Jussie Smollett on Tuesday, August 16.
Half Baked‘s sympathetic stoner Guillermo Díaz lights it up with Kelly on Wednesday, August 17, and Summer of Sam star John Leguizamo will be Ripa’s co-host on Thursday, August 18. Frequent Live with Kelly co-host guest, Watch What Happens Live‘s Andy Cohen, returns to Ripa’s side as co-host to finish off the week on Friday, August 19.
As previously covered by the Inquisitr, Kelly’s former television partner, Michael Strahan, left Ripa’s Live for Good Morning America back in May. Amid media reports of hostility between Kelly and the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, Michael was busy with the television transition and promoting his recent book, Wake Up Happy: The Dream Big, Win Big Guide to Transforming Your Life. Strahan reportedly didn’t tell Ripa of his Live exit until the news was made public, seemingly a sore point among Michael and Hollywood Walk of Fame honoree Kelly.
Acting as Kelly Ripa’s co-host from 2012 to 2016, Michael Strahan had a good run by Kelly’s side. Now, the time has come for Strahan’s co-host successor to rise up from the abundance of interim guest hosts. In an interview with DuJour magazine, Michael stated that he was not feigning his excitement when hosting Live with Kelly and enjoyed sharing the spotlight with her, regardless of their impersonal real-life relationship.
“You can’t fake it. I don’t go out to her house for dinner every night, and we don’t hang out on the weekend. But we for some reason have this chemistry to be able to laugh and have fun like best friends in front of a camera.”
Ripa, the former All My Children star, revived her acting chops last year as a guest star on Jacobson and Glazer’s Comedy Central show, Broad City. The second-season episode, “Coat Check,” featured Kelly imbibing wine and offering life tips to Jacobson’s pseudo-autobiographical lead character, Abbi Abrams. Check out a clip below.
Do you think Kelly Ripa’s co-host selection will be a shock come September? Will the winner be a recently-praised guest host like Savage or O’Connell? Ripa’s prestigious co-host position, while an impressive accomplishment for any entertainer, is a job with a great deal of accountability. Sitting in Ripa’s co-host chair is a gig befitting Uncle Ben’s famous exhortation to Peter Parker in 2002’s Spider-Man, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Kelly's guest co-hosts the week of August 15th! @DavidMuir @jussiesmollett @guillermodiazreal @johnleguizamo @Andy pic.twitter.com/xGhTmSdqcs
— LIVEKellyRyan (@LiveKellyRyan) August 4, 2016
Who do you think should take the cake as Kelly Ripa’s co-host? Kelly’s final decision is reportedly coming shortly before the new season begins in September. Let us know your choice of co-host in the comments section below.
[Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images]
