Making a change. Kelly Ripa, Ryan Seacrest and Mark Consuelos have have been candid about the future of ABC’s Live as the show prepares for some big shifts.
In February 2023, Seacrest announced his exit from Live With Kelly and Ryan after six years of cohosting with Ripa.
“Working alongside Kelly over the past six years has been a dream job and one of the highlights of my career. 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,” he said in a statement at the time. “I also want to thank 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. It’s been a memorable ride and now I’m excited to pass the baton to Kelly’s ‘real’ husband, Mark.”
Ripa, who first appeared on the daytime talk show in 2001, praised the American Idol host for his professionalism over the years. She also confirmed that her husband, Consuelos, would be joining her after Seacrest’s departure.
“I can’t thank you enough, [Ryan], on all of our behalf,” she said during the live episode in February 2023. “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.”
The CW star, for his part, noted that it wasn’t difficult for him to sign on to the project, sharing on Live, “No, you know the thing was that [Kelly and I] did this before and [in] much more difficult circumstances. We worked together on a soap opera for seven years.”
Later that month, Ripa opened up about how the couple came to the decision to work together again. (The pair, who tied the knot in 1996, have collaborated on All My Children, Hope & Faith and Riverdale.)
“Mark and I owe everything we have in our professional lives to ABC. We met there at the beginning of our careers and got married and had our kids while there,” the former soap opera actress, who shares three kids with her husband, exclusively told Us Weekly. “So many wonderful moments have happened while with ABC, so it only makes sense for us to come full circle and work together once again for the show that has given us so much joy and so many years of memories.”
Seacrest is set to take his final bow in April 2023. Following his exit, Consuelos will take over and the show will be rebranded as Live With Kelly and Mark.
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Scroll on for everything the trio have said about the Live shakeup:
