Top Kelly Ripa ‘Live’ Episodes, Ranked
For more than 20 years, Kelly Ripa, 52, has been waking up with America and bringing smiles to their faces with Live! Born in October 1970 in New Jersey, the actor who later went on to lead morning talk shows, earned her the label of one of the “most powerful people in media,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. She deserves congratulations for playing Hayley Vaughan on All My Children and earning producer credits on the top-rated syndicated morning talk show!
Since Michael Strahan departed the program to co-host Good Morning America, Kelly Ripa has had various co-hosts on Live. Although Ryan Seacrest may have won the long-term contest, he is not even close to being at the top of this list. Let’s examine some of the best Live episodes with notable guests as hosts.
Kelly Ripa’s Journey In Live!
Psychic Char Margolis attended Ripa’s first tryout for Live! with Regis Philbin on November 1, 2000. Margolis speculated in this episode that Ripa was expecting her second child. Ripa answered, “I haven’t told my boss yet!” In a later interview, Philbin claimed that Ripa was the front-runner among the other contenders, which also included Jane Krakowski, Valerie Bertinelli, Dolly Parton, and Bernadette Peters: “It could only be Kelly. From the moment of her stunning debut, we knew that.” On February 5, 2001, Ripa was named as the official replacement. Within a few months, the young audience demographics of the renamed Live! with Regis and Kelly climbed by 80%, and Ripa is credited with giving the program “a new life.”
After Philbin’s retirement, on November 21, 2011, Kelly Ripa took over as the show’s host in his stead. The program was then renamed Live! with Kelly. A rotating cast of co-hosts, including Michael Strahan, Seth Meyers, Josh Groban, Randy Jackson, Michael Bublé, Peter Facinelli, Rob Lowe, Dana Carvey, Reggie Bush, Fred Savage, and Mario Lopez, participated in a process similar to the one used to choose her to succeed Gifford as co-host. Finally, Strahan was revealed as the new co-host and the first episode of Live! with Kelly and Michael aired on September 4, 2012.
The name of the program was changed to Live! with Kelly again on May 16, 2016, following Strahan’s final appearance before his transfer to Good Morning America. There followed another wave of guest co-hosts. The program changed its name to Live with Kelly and Ryan on May 1, 2017, after Ryan Seacrest succeeded Strahan as a co-host.
Seacrest said on February 16, 2023, that he would end his six-year run on Live with Kelly and Ryan in April 2023. Both of them sobbed as they left the set of the “Bye Bye Ry Ry” episode, which Ripa described as “a great day of celebration.”
Some Top-Ranked Episodes To Date
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel was Kelly Ripa’s first replacement for Michael Strahan as a guest co-host on Live after his departure. On Monday, May 16, 2016, Jimmy Kimmel, the late-night host, took his place as co-host next to Kelly Ripa.
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest is usually busy, so why not add an entertaining hour of conversation with Kelly to his day? We don’t see him deciding to join the show every day, but he has guest-hosted the show six times and unquestionably possesses the effortless energy it needs.
Jussie Smollett
The attractive and charismatic Empire star has done a lot of guest hosting recently, but we have a feeling Jussie Smollett may prefer to prioritize the popular Fox program and his music career before taking on any permanent roles.
Also Read: Mark Consuelos Had a “Bad Feeling” Wife Kelly Ripa Was Cheating on Him, Caught Her Red-Handed
Carrie Ann Inaba
The front-runner among the female candidates, the Dancing With the Stars judge, Carrie Ann Inaba, has hosted with Ripa five times and has more than enough vigor to lead a weekday morning talk show.
Mark Consuelos
Although the husband-wife relationship of Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos is entertaining for a morning talk show and the duo has tremendous chemistry, we’re not sure it will last indefinitely.
Anyway, are you watching Live with Kelly and Mark?
Source: TVInsider
