Kelly Ripa & Ryan Seacrest Go Full ‘Breaking Bad’ In Gas Masks & Coveralls As They Return To ‘Live’ Studio

Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest returned to their New York City studio after months of remote broadcasts, but they looked like they were getting ready to shoot a scene from Breaking Bad more than a TV talk show.

In a hilarious photo shared to Instagram, the Live with Kelly and Ryan duo posed in forensics coveralls that resembled Walter and Jesse’s (Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul) yellow hazmat-style suits from Vince Gilligan’s Emmy-winning AMC crime drama series. Kelly and Ryan paired their protective gear with gas masks and bright blue gloves and headed into unknown territory following months of quarantine.

In the caption to the post, Kelly asked fans to guess who’s finally back in the studio.

Fans reacted with laughing emoji and comments as they welcomed the popular TV co-hosts back to their home base in New York City. Many wrote that they thought this day would never come.

The duo’s return to work outfits was a big focus in the comments section to the post, which can be seen below.

“Set of Live or Breaking Bad?” one fan joked.

“What the Walter White?” another viewer chimed in.

“Wait? Did you remember hand sanitizer?? LOL!” a third person asked.

Other followers wondered if Kelly and Ryan were dressed to clean and sanitize the set.

“They have more PPE than I do in my kindergarten classroom!” another user noted.

And others even asked if they could borrow the protective suits so they can hug their loved ones.

When it came time to go on the air, Kelly and Ryan skipped the suits. In a behind-the-scenes video, which can be seen here, the television personalities were seen wearing face masks as they got ready to start filming.

Longtime producer Michael Gelman was also masked up as the group prepared for their first-ever live show from their New York set without a studio audience. When Kelly and Ryan finally reunited, they were mask-free and shared a virtual hug before sitting extra-far apart at their table.

Fans know that the morning show hosts stopped shooting with an audience in mid-March before going into full remote mode. Ryan was able to work from Los Angeles for the past few months while Kelly broadcast from an unknown location.

The former All My Children star and her family were reportedly holed up in the Caribbean for a while as much of the world went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.