‘Live! With Kelly’ Co-Host Search A ‘Gimmick?’ Ripa Reveals Top Choice
The search for a new "Live! with Kelly" co-host has stretched on for seven months now and it doesn't show signs of stopping anytime soon. Fifty guest hosts have flitted in and out of Kelly Ripa's talk show in recent months since Michael Strahan departed the program. Now, there are claims that the co-host search is just a ruse to boost the TV show's ratings.
The New York Daily News called the co-host search as "a charade and a gimmick," adding that Ripa is "doing fine on her own." The news outlet acknowledged that Ripa seems to favor Anderson Cooper above the other guest hosts the program has tried, but getting Cooper the job is unlikely given that he's already heavily committed to CNN as a primary news anchor.
Ripa, 46, told Andy Cohen in an appearance on "Watch What Happens Live" last week that Cooper is "the one that got away and keeps getting away and gets away all the time," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The two are close friends.
It seems that "Live! with Kelly" succeeded in their quest to boost the program's ratings -- that is, if the co-host search being a gimmick is indeed true. NY Daily News noted that the talk show's ratings rose to more than 3.4 million viewers since Ripa began her co-host search.
Ripa also revealed on "Watch What Happens Live" that her program isn't in a rush to find a co-host, saying that a definite time frame wasn't set. Ripa said that they are waiting until they found "the right person," though they have been "trying to keep it as narrow as possible, but then people pop up," E! News reported. She also said that they didn't expect the "outpouring of interest" from viewers regarding the co-host search.
Aside from Cooper, other guest hosts who helped "Live! with Kelly" get high ratings are Jimmy Kimmel (3.3 million viewers on May 16), "Empire" star Jussie Smollett (3.1 on May 17), and Cedric the Entertainer with 3.0, The Wrap listed. Other guest co-hosts that appeared in the show are Joel McHale, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, Christian Slater, and Fred Savage. Octavia Spencer is co-hosting on Dec. 7, Scott Wolf on Dec. 8, and Taraji P. Henson on Dec. 9.
The guest co-hosts scheduled to appear in "Live! with Kelly" next week were already announced as well. Check them out below.
Kelly's guest cohosts week of Dec 12th! @mrrichcurtis @VanJones68 @MarkConsuelos #LiveKellyCohost #LiveKelly pic.twitter.com/iHsm0F4zdA
— LIVE with Kelly (@LiveKelly) December 1, 2016
Do you believe that the co-host search of "Live! with Kelly" is just a ruse? Who do you think will be Ripa's official co-host in the program? Share your thoughts below!
