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Kelly Ripa Allegedly Blindsided By Real Reason Ryan Seacrest Was Hired For ‘Live!’

By Heather Tooley
Published on: 15:55 PST, May 5, 2017

Kelly Ripa has allegedly been blindsided by the real reason ABC hired Ryan Seacrest to co-host Live!. It turns out that the network may have had an ulterior motive in signing Ryan onto the longtime talkshow.

A source tells Radar Online that Kelly Ripa was under the impression that Ryan Seacrest was hired because he would “bring in a list of guests and ratings” for Live!, but found out it was all part of a plan by ABC. As the network bids to bring back American Idol, it’s plotting to get Seacrest on the prime time show.

“It’s like Kelly has been betrayed all over again. Ryan wasn’t her first choice, but she was convinced by the network that he would bring in a list of guests and ratings. Now she has found out that it is all about Idol and not really just about her!”

The insider adds that Live! makes ABC a lot of money, but it doesn’t hold a candle to what prime time programs bring in. If ABC can get American Idol and have Ryan Seacrest host the show, they’ll be right where they want to be. The source says it’s like ABC is betraying Kelly Ripa all over again.

“She seems livid. Ryan knew all along what was going on, but once again, everyone kept her in the dark.”

Last summer, Ripa was blindsided when she learned that her former co-host, Michael Strahan, was leaving Live! for a full-time gig at Good Morning America. Producers didn’t make her aware of the monumental decision, which meant she heard about the news at the same time as everyone else.

When it comes to the developments surrounding American Idol, ABC is in a bidding war with Fox. TMZ reports that Fox has put an “over-the-top offer” on the table for the show. ABC wants to reboot the reality competition show in March, 2018, but they’re facing stiff competition from Fox. A source reveals that Fox’s offer is more than ABC can swing. It doesn’t matter who wins because both networks want Ryan Seacrest to host American Idol.

Seacrest’s contract with ABC for Live! allows him to pursue other projects, but what he has in the works will be quite demanding. His $73 million contract with iRadio was announced on the same day he began working with Kelly Ripa on Live! and if he hosts American Idol, he’ll be flying back-and-forth from New York City to Los Angeles regularly.

An earlier report by TMZ on Friday revealed that ABC inquired about having American Idol filmed in New York instead of L.A. because that’s where Seacrest hosts Live! there. Fremantle, one of American Idol’s co-owners, insists that the show has to be shot in L.A. Fremantle reportedly wants Seacrest to host the show as well, but the popular host would be on a tight schedule to sustain his workload.

Fremantle wants ABC to air American Idol on Sunday nights, which would mean Seacrest has to jump on a jet after the show, sleep four hours, then land in New York and prepare to go on Live! with Kelly Ripa for Monday’s taping. He would rush to the airport, fly back to L.A., and repeat the routine; the same goes for Tuesday. When Thursday rolls around, Seacrest and Ripa would tape the Friday segment of Live! before getting on his jet and flying back to L.A. Kelly has been taping Friday segments of Live! on Thursdays for a long time, so that wouldn’t be a special arrangement for Seacrest.

Did ABC actually hire Ryan Seacrest to co-host Live! with Kelly Ripa so they’d have him around in the event they reboot American Idol?

[Featured Image by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images for VH1 & Logo Communications]

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