Ryan Seacrest Returns to ‘Live With Ryan and Kelly’ After Suffering From ‘Exhaustion’

Ryan Seacrest is back to his old self after suffering from “exhaustion” that caused him to miss Monday’s episode of Live With Kelly and Ryan. The talk show host returned to his home broadcasting role Tuesday, thanking Ripa’s husband, Riverdale actor Mark Consuelos, for filling in for him the previous day while he took a much needed rest.

“He’s so good at it,” Seacrest told Ripa of her husband’s temporary role as her co-host. He also made sure to thank his friends and fans for “all the very kind well-wishes for my exhaustion working around the clock,” saying that after a day off to relax, he was ready to get back at it on Live.

Concern for Seacrest first arose during Sunday’s live American Idol finale, when the host appeared to briefly slur his words as one eye drooped lower than the other. While people on social media surmised that he may have suffered a stroke or neurological problem that could have caused the change in behavior and appearance, his representative told PEOPLE Monday he was simply exhausted from working nonstop amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Ryan did not have any kind of stroke last night,” his representative said in a statement, adding that “like many people right now,” the host has been “adjusting to the new normal and finding work-home balance,” and feeling worn out with the “added stress” of broadcasting from home for Live with Kelly and Ryan, American Idol, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, and the Disney Family Singalong specials.

With so much going on over the last several weeks, Seacrest’s rep insisted he was simply “in need of rest,” which prompted him to take a “well-deserved day off” from Monday’s broadcast. Tuesday, Seacrest appeared to be back to his old self, joking with Ripa over her giant hair clips.

Last month, Seacrest had opened up to PEOPLE about how difficult it has been to broadcast all his shows from home amid the global pandemic, saying the partially live, partially taped shows require a lot more planning than he imagined. “Every once in a while, we have to be careful not to step on each other while we’re talking because there’s that delay that we’ve all experienced talking to our families at home on different Zooms and things like that,” he explained.