The 'Live With Kelly and Ryan' hosts are celebrating five years co-hosting together.
Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest are celebrating their five-year work anniversary! The Live With Kelly and Ryan hosts spoke to ET’s Rachel Smith about the milestone.
“It seems like not five years,” Ripa says. “It seems like five minutes, but also 50 years. It feels like all of our life -- and yet -- it has gone in a flash.”
“I think because we've known each other for 20-plus years, that it's been a long life together already,” Seacrest adds.
Seacrest joined Ripa as co-host in 2017, following Michael Strahan’s departure from the long-running daytime talk show. Ripa, who has had the gig since 2001, says, like the viewers, her mom always points out how in sync she and Seacrest are with each other.
“My mom actually said it best, she said, ‘Ryan and you seem like you are twins,’ only I'm older than he is,” Ripa reveals. “She said mentally it seems like the two of you are always having the same wavelength,” and I said, 'We are.'”
“I think what is really special about our relationship is we really, truly can read each other’s mind, "Seacrest admits. “And often when we are doing the show, she and I are thinking the same exact thing at the same time.”
When it came to the American Idol host’s debut episode, Ripa says the nerves weren’t about their chemistry, but their big mouths.
“We were afraid the secret was going to get out, We couldn't tell anyone,” she shares, adding, “When you know your friend is coming in, someone you love and trust and admire and respect, there is no fear.”
For Seacrest, who holds many jobs, Live isn’t like any of his other gigs, past or present. "I will say, this show is unique, it's a super different beast,” he tells ET.
“This show is as you see when you watch the beginning, we have a plan, but we rarely stick to a plan," he says. "And we can just catch up like friends do. Catch up every day live. I don't know another show around or that I've worked on that is that loose.”
Ripa adds, “There is no show like this.”
Outside of working with Ripa, Seacrest is busy expanding the Ryan Seacrest Foundation’s reach. It was announced that a second location is opening at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis.
“We announced one in New York that’s coming and one in Memphis, Tennessee, that we are building too,” the radio personality says.
“Soon, we will have up to 15 of them around the country and me and Kelly have talked about this, it’s the most important thing we get to do," Seacrest adds. "Just to create these escapes for kids in hospitals around the country.”
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