Kelly Ripa Leaving ‘Live’? She Reportedly Blames Her ‘Mismatch’ With Ryan Seacrest For Sinking Ratings

Kelly Ripa had high hopes for her new co-host, Ryan Seacrest, but ratings for Live with Kelly and Ryan continue to drop. With the show struggling to attract viewers, Ripa is allegedly thinking about leaving and blames the former American Idol host for the ratings drop.

According to Closer Weekly, Ripa doesn’t think Seacrest identifies with her longstanding fan base. Ripa believes that Seacrest is great for the show’s younger viewers, but her loyal audience is leaving in droves because they don’t connect with him.

“The show is a wreck at the moment… Ryan is just not connecting with daytime viewers. He appeals to a much younger, music-oriented audience. Kelly blames the show. She feels [execs] made a huge miscalculation bringing him on to Live,” an insider revealed.

Seacrest was hired back in May and ratings have steadily dropped 23 percent from 2016. The insider explained how the poor ratings have been a huge hit to Seacrest’s ego, especially after he thought the co-hosting gig was a low-risk opportunity. Despite the troubles, Kelly Ripa and Seacrest have been getting along great in front of the cameras and still hold a tremendous amount of respect for each other.

“Kelly and Ryan like and have a high regard for each other. They’re not angry with one another. It’s just been a real TV marriage mismatch,” the source added.

To make the situation worse, Seacrest is gearing up to host ABC’s American Idol reboot next year, which only adds another project to his already frantic schedule. Not only is Ripa unhappy with Seacrest taking on another hosting job, but she’s also reportedly worried that he’ll leave Live just like her last co-host, Michael Strahan.

“She feels stabbed in the back and believes she’s going to lose Ryan just like she lost Michael,” the insider stated. “Kelly is truly pissed that, after all the time ABC spent negotiating with Ryan for Live, they would then buy the show that made him a household name and take him away. [She] really thought Live would be Ryan’s focus.”

According to Closer Weekly, Ripa was unaware of the network’s plans to reboot American Idol when they cast Seacrest for Live. If American Idol is a big hit, then there’s a strong chance Seacrest will be too busy to continue co-hosting Live, especially if filming for the singing competition takes place in Los Angeles. An early exit from Seacrest would crush Ripa, who still has bad feelings about Strahan’s exit.

Back in April of 2016, Strahan announced his departure on the set of Live without Ripa even knowing about it. The former NFL star left the series for a spot on Good Morning America, and it took Ripa and producers a year to find a suitable replacement. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like their patience paid off and Ripa might be headed for the door before everything falls apart.

New episodes of Live with Kelly and Ryan air weekdays on ABC.

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[Featured Image by ABC]