Kelly Ripa rules out her husband as co-host for ‘Live!’
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The search for a Regis Philbin replacement to co-host ‘Live!’ alongside Kelly Ripa is ongoing, but there’s one person who definitely won’t be getting the gig: her husband, Mark Consuelos.
In the June issue of Vanity Fair, Ripa says, ‘No one would make me happier than Mark, but he values our marriage and he says that he doesn’t see how we could stay married and both do that show.’
That doesn’t mean they can’t work together. Consuelos and Ripa met while they worked together on ‘All My Children’ in the 1990s, and he has appeared as a fill-in co-host on occasion.
Meanwhile, the seemingly neverending list of temporary seat-fillers grows longer. Among the celebrities who have attempted to fill Philbin’s shoes are Jerry Seinfeld, Neil Patrick Harris, Jonah Hill, Josh Groban, Taye Diggs, Kevin Jonas, Bryant Gumbel, Seth Meyers, Mario Lopez, Dana Carvey (who does a killer Regis impersonation), Jerry O’Connell, Randy Jackson, David Duchovny, Alec Baldwin, Andy Cohen, Joel McHale and Matthew Broderick.
Philbin, who originated the show and co-hosted it with Kathy Lee Gifford when it went national in 1988, retired in November. He holds the Guinness World Record for having the most hours on the air. Ripa joined the show in 2001 after a search for a replacement for Gifford (which included Philbin’s own wife, Joy, as a fill-in host).
There’s been no indication as to when a permanent co-host will be named, and with ratings up 10% over last year, Ripa has told the New York Daily News she’s in no hurry to name a replacement.
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— Patrick Kevin Day
