Ryan Seacrest to Reunite With Kelly Ripa on 'Live' Following Departure
Ryan Seacrest could not stay away from Live for long. The American Idol host will make his first appearance with Kelly Ripa since leaving the now-titled Live with Kelly and Mark. Seacrest will stop by on Thursday to promote this weekend's Idol season finale. Seacrest's final Live episode aired on April 14, and he was replaced by Ripa's husband, actor Mark Consuelos.
"This isn't the end, I'm going to be back," Seacrest told PEOPLE Monday. "This place is remarkable. I'm going to miss coming into this studio to see the people who have worked here for so long. It is about the people here; it's a family at Live and they adopted me for a little while and I'm grateful for that... So I'll definitely be visiting from time to time."
Ripa joked that Seacrest is "forever adopted." The Los Angeles resident is "forever a New Yorker and forever a Live co-host, whether he likes it or not."
Seacrest will remind Live viewers about the upcoming three-hour Idol finale, which will air live across the country Sunday night on ABC. The episode will include performances from former Idol contestants Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard. Judges Luke Bryan, Kary Perry, and Lionel Richie will also perform. Ellie Goulding, James Blunt, Jazmine Sullivan, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson, Pitbull, TLC, Kylie Minogue, Jazmine Sullivan, TLC, and REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin will take the stage as well. The Top 12 contestants will return, too. Meanwhile, viewers will decide between Colin Stough, Iam Tongi, and Megan Danielle for the next Idol champion.
Seacrest, Ripa, and Consuelos will also discuss the grand opening of the next Seacrest Studio. In September, the Ryan Seacrest Foundation announced that Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis was chosen for the new, 1,275-square-foot studio.
Seacrest announced plans to leave Live in February. He was open about how much he would miss sitting next to Ripa every morning. "I'll miss being next to Kelly every single day," Seacrest told E! News in March. "We're extremely close, we're very good friends and we'll remain good friends, but it's like there's that hour of communicating with somebody. You become super excited about doing it, you laugh and then of course you can't remember what you said to each other, so I'll miss that part."
Consuelos has experience co-hosting Live since he would often serve as a guest host when Seacrest was unavailable. Last month, Seacrest told E! News Conseulos and Ripa were "doing great" since the show became Live with Kelly and Mark. The show has been a hit ratings-wise, although some fans were frustrated that their first week only included three live shows. Seacrest's final show was also taped before it finally aired.