Ryan Seacrest Departs, Mark Consuelos Named New Host for Live with Kelly and Mark
It looks like mornings are about to get a little different. Ryan Seacrest recently announced he is leaving ABC’s hit morning program Live with Kelly and Ryan, which he co-hosted alongside Kelly Ripa. Instead of leaving her without a co-host, Ripa will be hosting alongside her husband Mark Consuelos.
The program’s new name will be Live with Kelly and Mark. Seacrest and Ripa hosted together for six years, and this departure was quite sudden, but this program has seen its fair share of changes before. A married couple hosting could be an interesting shakeup.
To new beginnings pic.twitter.com/RpBy5VRlIh
— LIVEKellyRyan (@LiveKellyRyan) February 16, 2023
Seacrest got his big break being the host of American Idol. He also hosts many radio programs, including American Top 40 and On Air with Ryan Seacrest. In addition, Seacrest hosts Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve every year and produces a lot of television for E! Network.
He is a busy man, which is part of the official reason for his departure. Live with Kelly and Ryan is in New York, and most of his projects are in Los Angeles. Since he’s finished traveling, he’s currently residing in Los Angeles. However, he may be back to guest host occasionally. He expressed that leaving was “bittersweet.” He is showing his lasting love for Live with Kelly and Ryan.
Ripa’s Live career precedes Seacrest’s by many years. She originally started hosting with television legend Regis Philbin in 2001, taking over for Kathie Lee Gifford. Ripa and Philbin hosted together for ten years until Philbin retired in 2011.
Following that, Ripa regularly hosted herself with a series of guest hosts which included Jerry Seinfeld, Daniel Radcliffe, Rob Lowe, and more. Eventually, producers settled on a former football player, Michael Strahan. This duo lasted until 2016, when Strahan left to host Good Morning America. After more guest hosts, Seacrest joined the picture. Unfortunately, while the two had a lively hosting tenure together, it had to end. However, it looks like Ripa will be around for a while longer, and she will have her love to keep her company.
Ripa and Consuelos first met when working on the soap opera All My Children, in which the two played a couple. They eloped in 1996 and have three children, Michael, Lola, and Joaquin. Consuelos left All My Children in 2002 and has been consistently acting since then. This includes roles in dramas like American Horror Story, Missing, Alpha House, and guest appearances in popular comedies like Friends and Ugly Betty.
In 2017, Consuelos started starring in the hit teen drama Riverdale. Consuelos has guest-hosted Live before, as he does have a close connection to this program. It is now time to start your morning with a long-lasting couple, with some new chemistry in store. As Consuelos joked on Instagram about Ripa, “I can’t believe after all these years of listening to you talk for free, I found a way to get paid for it.”
