What Kelly Ripa Told Ryan Seacrest Before Final Day on ‘Live’

Kelly Ripa shared her final words to Ryan Seacrest from the moments before they stepped out onto the stage to film his final Live. Did Ripa have a premonition that the American Idol host would get tapped to host one of the more iconic gameshows in TV history? Probably not, but it’s a fun bit of lore to think about. According to Entertainment Weekly, Ripa kept her words short and simple and captured the moment perfectly.

“I looked at him and I said, ‘This really sucks’ and so inelegant,” Ripa told the outlet. “It’s not an articulate thing to say, but that fit in that moment. I was like, ‘Oh, this is our last walk out.’”

Seacrest’s final episode has come and gone by this point, with Ripa’s husband Mark Consuelos stepping in as her new co-host. It didn’t take long for the imagery, promotional material and general look of the show had changed, with Seacrest seemingly leaving with it all.

The American Idol staple joined Live With Kelly back in 2017 as the third permanent co-host with Ripa after former NFL star Michael Strahan and legendary broadcaster Regis Philbin. For Seacrest, the seemingly short tenure still made for an interesting, surprising final day.

“I didn’t know what it was going to feel like,” he admitted. “I thought, ‘Well, you can handle this’ and then they roll the clips and pop balloons, but the sad music and the editing of those pieces together it makes you realize how many great moments we have had.”

According to Entertainment Tonight, Seacrest got a little weepy during the send-off on last show. “[Kelly] was holding me up a couple times ’cause I get very emotional,” Seacrest admitted, with Ripa adding a small detail. “It’s been hard ’cause we’ve been preparing ourselves for this for a long time.”

Seacrest’s exit had been mulled over for a while and ended up being announced back in February. For Seacrest, the main motivation to get back to the West Coast and Los Angeles, where American Idol is filmed. He’ll also still have his radio show, his hosting duties on Dick Clark’s New York Rockin’ Eve, and three more Ryan Seacrest Foundation Studios opening in pediatric hospitals.

“It’s the one thing I have to say that I am so happy about because I’ve always known — and we’ve always known here — who Ryan is, at his core, but all of his jobs are about featuring other people,” Ripa said about Seacrest’s six years on Live. “And I’m so glad that we got to feature Ryan because he is, I always say, one in a zillion. He is the most special person, talented, kind, conscientious…I like for him to see himself the way we see him.”