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Kelly Ripa, Ryan Seacrest Pairing Brings Big Ratings As Rumors Of Drama Swirl Amid ‘American Idol’ Reboot News

By Stacy Carey
Published on: 16:52 PST, May 8, 2017

Ryan Seacrest has been announced as Kelly Ripa’s co-host now and this pairing took many by surprise. There have been plenty of rumors swirling about how this decision was made, and those rumors are escalating now that it has been revealed that ABC has scored the opportunity to do a reboot of American Idol. Are Kelly and Ryan happy to be together, and how will the Idol reboot affect Live with Kelly And Ryan?

It took nearly a year for Kelly Ripa’s co-host to be chosen after the controversial and tense departure of Michael Strahan last year. Many Live viewers thought that the co-hosting gig would go to someone like Jerry O’Connell, Fred Savage, Christian Slater, or Josh Groban since Ripa’s likely top picks like Anderson Cooper, Neil Patrick Harris, and Andy Cohen weren’t exactly available. Ryan Seacrest had hosted alongside Ripa a handful of times over the course of the past year, but he wasn’t seen by many as a likely frontrunner.

Sources for Radar Online claim that Ripa was blindsided by the show’s decision to put Seacrest in that co-host spot. The site’s supposed insiders claim that Kelly had wanted someone else, but she was ultimately convinced by the network to go with Ryan due to the ability he would have to draw big names and ratings. Now, however, tensions are supposedly running high because the decision to snag Seacrest was more about the American Idol deal than the actual co-host gig on Live.

Contrary to these reports, GossipCop details that they have heard from insiders who reveal that Ripa was thrilled to see the co-hosting gig go to Seacrest. In addition, they point out that Ryan has voiced some concerns over whether he could really do both Live and American Idol, and Kelly was the one urging him to go for it.

Despite all of the rumors of discord, Ripa told People that she and Seacrest have been close to one another for years and she seemingly gushed over him as she talked about her new “TV husband.” She noted that they already work out together regularly and Kelly insists that she was adamant that her new co-host be someone that everybody could enjoy hanging out with both on the set as well as in their everyday lives. She says that they already do spend a lot of time together, and so far, Live with Kelly and Ryan viewers do seem to be enjoying their on-screen connection.

There have also been claims circulating that Seacrest is determined to “destroy” Megyn Kelly, who will be hosting Today in the hour that goes up against Live with Kelly and Ryan. Supposedly, ABC wanted to snag Ryan to utilize his connections to squash Megyn as she moves to Today after her long run on Fox. While these rumors make for good gossip, it doesn’t sound as if there’s anything solid behind them.

The decision to make Ryan Seacrest Ripa’s co-host may have come as a surprise to many Live with Kelly and Ryan viewers, but the connection between the two on-air does appear to be genuine and as Deadline details, the show’s ratings have been great so far. She was doing quite well on her own over the course of this past year, but it seems that as a duo these two are even stronger so far.

What do you think of the pick to make Ryan Seacrest Kelly Ripa’s co-host on Live with Kelly and Ryan? Are they going to work well as a duo and will he manage to also return as the host of American Idol as ABC ramps up that reboot?

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]

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