Jerry O’Connell Wasn’t Disappointed He Lost the ‘Live!’ Cohosting Gig to ‘Famous’ Ryan Seacrest

Even though Jerry O’Connell wasn’t selected as the cohost of Live! with Kelly Ripa back in 2017, he said he has no hard feelings. “While I would have loved to host with Kelly, I understand why they chose the most famous person in the world,” Jerry, 46, exclusively jokes to Closer Weekly about the show going with Ryan Seacrest instead.

“Everything happens for a reason. I’m very good friends with Kelly Ripa. I talk to her regularly,” he adds. “I mean, it’s just Ryan Seacrest is the host, He’s a pretty well-known person. I don’t know what to say. He’s a tough act to top.”

Before Ryan became a permanent cohost on Live!, Jerry hosted the show a few times with Kelly back in 2016. But even though they had amazing chemistry, the actor didn’t get the gig. He did, however, end up hosting his own talk show, the Jerry O’ Show, which premiered in August 2019. “I don’t think that’s going [so well. It’s] such a bummer. It’s just not happening,” he tells Closer while giving an update about the program. “I tried my hardest but it’s dead. I know that’s a pretty intense term to use, but I’d say it’s dead.”

However, the Sliders star does have a few more projects in the works. He just came out with the movie Ballbusters and his new film with Katie Holmes called The Secret: Dare to Dream, which is a “fictionalized version” of the “self-help” book, The Secret.

“My character is the guy who Katie Holmes is with at the beginning of the film and I’m the one who is holding her back in life. So then she meets Josh Lucas and using the rules of attraction, he lets her know what her potential is,” Jerry explains, before jokingly adding, “I don’t want to spoil anything for anybody but my character might get left in the dust.”

The Secret: Dare to Dream hit theaters on July 31, 2020, and according to Rotten Tomatoes, people are loving the film so far. One thing the actor loves about the movie is that it can relate to anyone’s life. “It’s great. It’s a great positive message. It’s a positive movie and I think everybody could use it around this time,” Jerry gushes.

Be sure to catch Jerry in his new film, The Secret: Dare To Dream, available now On Demand on Apple TV and everywhere you rent movies. Episodes of his show Carter are also available to stream on IMDb TV, Amazon’s free streaming service.

Reporting by Diana Cooper