Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest Celebrate Major Change This Season on ‘Live’

Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest are marking a momentous occasion on Live With Kelly and Ryan as the two hosts returned this week to sitting side-by-side after months of social distancing on set amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Live hosts have been given the green light to sit next to one another again in their New York City studio in accordance with the CDC guidelines for fully vaccinated people and noted Tuesday how strange it was to be back where they started more than a year ago.

“Wow, I totally forget we used to sit this close to each other,” Seacrest noted. “We’re a little nervous about it.” Ripa quipped back that their arrangement seemed “awfully close,” joking, “I feel like this is a level of intimacy that one of us should be wearing protection for.” Seacrest agreed, “I think so too,” before assuring audiences that he and his co-host were both fully vaccinated against COVID.

Fans of the morning show commented on Instagram about how good it was to see the two back where they once sat. “They finally can sit side by side!!!!!!!!” one person wrote, as another chimed in, “Oh thank goodness. Some small piece of normalcy. We are slowly getting there.” A different fan commented, “Great to see you both ‘together,’” as another added, “And the audience is next…….but still soooo good without!!!!”

Live With Kelly and Ryan has been following strict safety protocols since the two hosts returned to the studio in September following months of recording the show virtually at home. Technology made it possible for Ripa and Seacrest to return to set, with one producer explaining on the show’s Instagram upon their return, “What’s cool is the hosts are gonna be so far apart, but at the same time we’re gonna put them together in an electronic effect, like magic. It feels much closer and warmer.”

When Seacrest started to experience concerning symptoms in October such as a sore throat, he took a break from the show, returning only when he got negative COVID test results confirming he was simply suffering from a seasonal cold. “Thank you for covering, following the strict protocol,” Seacrest told Ripa at the beginning of his first show back. “Got the negative test results for COVID. Makes you feel very good.”

Even with the separate seating, Ripa and Seacrest’s show hit a major milestone in March, becoming the number one daytime talk show among women 25-54 for 52 weeks straight, beating out all other network and syndicated daytime shows, including all 33 seasons of Live With Regis and Kathie Lee and all hosting iterations of the show.