Ryan Seacrest is leaving Live with Kelly, will be replaced by Mark Consuelos

May 2024 · 4 minute read

Yesterday morning, Ryan Seacrest announced that he is leaving Live with Kelly and Ryan. In a very syrupy love-fest with Kelly Ripa, Ryan said that after about a year of discussion, he’s decided to move back to the West Coast full time. Both he and Kelly reassured the audience there were no hard feelings – okay! The proof they offered that they loved each other was that Ryan had only signed on to do three years at the show but stayed for six. After they had sufficiently reaffirmed their friendship to each other and to the viewers, they announced the “exciting news” that Ryan would be replaced by none other than Kelly’s husband and frequent fill-in host, Mark Consuelos.

Ryan Seacrest is saying goodbye to Live with Kelly and Ryan and his replacement is someone very familiar to co-host Kelly Ripa.

On Thursday, the longtime broadcaster — who joined the syndicated ABC daytime show in 2017 — announced his exit from the series, with plans to move back to the west coast this spring ahead of the American Idol live shows in Los Angeles.

In his departure, Seacrest will be permanently replaced with actor Mark Consuelos, Ripa’s husband. The show will be officially rebranded as Live with Kelly and Mark.

Leaving was a “tough, tough” decision, Seacrest noted on the show, and a “bittersweet” one.

He honored his bond with Ripa. “Working alongside Kelly over the past six years has been a dream job and one of the highlights of my career,” said Seacrest, 48, in a statement. “She has been an amazing partner, friend, and confidant, and although we will always be a part of each other’s lives, I will miss our mornings together.”

“I also want to thank [executive producer] Michael Gelman and the entire staff and crew — we’ve made memories to last a lifetime, met some of the most incredible people and had the warmest welcome into the homes of so many viewers across America,” he added. “It’s been a memorable ride and now I’m excited to pass the baton to Kelly’s ‘real’ husband, Mark.”

Ripa, 52, shared her fondness for her friendship with Seacrest, too, calling him a “dear, dear friend” on the show.

“I’m so grateful to have spent the last six years beside my dear friend of too many decades to count and will miss starting my days with Ryan,” she said in a statement. “Ryan’s energy, passion and love for entertainment is one-of-a-kind.”

“I can’t thank you enough on all of our behalf,” she said on Thursday’s show. “There is nobody else like you. There is nobody who can really do what you do. I know you in real life as well as TV life. I say this about very few people: what you see is what you get. This is not an act, this is a good man. I am so endlessly impressed by you.”

[From People]

Honestly, I’m surprised Ryan lasted six years. It was exhausting just reading about his shuttling back and forth between coasts to keep up his multiple hosting/producing obligations. He was fine on Live, but it never felt like the right fit for him. I believe he and Kelly are very good friends, and he does a good job with a celebrity interview, but he makes more sense as a guest host, which is what he will be now. Just my opinion but besides producing, I think Ryan’s best role is as DJ. Anyway, good luck to him. Not that he needs it, he’s got so many irons in the fire, he’ll be fine.

Live with Kelly and Mark, though… I don’t know. Obviously, Mark has been tested as a guest host often enough. But I don’t think this is the right call. I posted the announcement below. Kelly said the choice was made because the audience relies on consistency. The implication is that Kelly and Mark will be married forever so he will be her co-host forever. Kelly knows her union much better than I do but that’s a big ask of a marriage. Some people can do everything together, though. Some. That’s for Kelly and Mark to decide. I don’t think this is going to work from an entertainment perspective, though. Mark and Kelly are too similar. They have the same stories and they’ve been together so long, they have the same history (not all, but you know what I mean). They know each other too well. When one says, “you know what cake I love?” We know the answer is “yes.” That’ll get stale quickly. Maybe a few years, but that’s quick for a talk show that has been on the air for over three decades. And their poor kids. Every time there’s dead air, there’s twice as much chance they’ll get thrown under the bus to fill it.

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