Television December 01, 2016
‘Live with Kelly’ Update: Has Kelly Ripa Found Her Co-Host?
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On Wednesday night, television personality Kelly Ripa made an appearance on Andy Cohen's show “Watch What Happens Live,” where she gave an update on her search for a “Live with Kelly” co-host.
Since Michael Strahan's exit in May, Ripa has been testing the waters with many guest co-hosts, including her husband Mark Consuelos, Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, Joel McHale, Jerry O'Connell, and Fred Savage.
When a caller asked if she was any closer to finding a permanent replacement for Strahan, Ripa responded, "We really didn't set a time frame for ourselves. We just wanted to wait until we found the right person. What we didn't anticipate was that we would have such an outpouring of interest, so our list got very long very quickly. We've been trying to keep it as narrow as possible, but then people pop up.”
Anderson Cooper, a frontrunner for the gig, was also on "Watch What Happens Live" with Kelly. He has co-hosted with Kelly in the past, saying, “It's the best job." When Cohen asked if Cooper would have been Kelly's top choice if he had not re-upped with CNN, she answered, "He's my life. He really is. He's the one that got away and keeps getting away and gets away all the time.”
Kelly also addressed the rumor that “Live with Kelly” was relocating to the West Coast after a co-host is signed. She shared, "I have not heard that rumor. That sounds like a rumor I would start, but I did not hear that rumor, and I can't imagine [it would happen]. We'd have to do the show at 6 a.m. and getting guests to come on at 9 a.m. can be challenging. So, 6 a.m. I think would be out of the question."
