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Kelly Ripa Is Faced With Low Ratings After Adding Ryan Seacrest as Her ‘Live’ Co-Host
Uh oh — Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest‘s days as co-hosts might be numbered!
Live with Kelly and Ryan is still new as far as daytime talk shows are concerned, but the ratings are already causing concern for the network. After former Live co-host Michael Strahan left the show to become a contributor on Good Morning America, Kelly was in need of a new co-host. She tested with a variety of talented options before landing on the American Idol alum. But now, In Touch reports that Ryan is not living up to the network’s expectations.
“It seems Ryan has lost his Midas touch,” a source tells In Touch. “The decision to add Ryan was supposed to be a slam dunk, but he’s just not registering with viewers for some reason.”
Ryan joined the show just in time for May Sweeps, but he was unable to bring the ratings up to where they were when Michael was still a host. According to the Nielson ratings, in May 2017 the numbers were 33 percent lower than they were the previous year.
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Kelly, who had a say in who would join the show admitted to People back in May that she wanted Ryan because of his personality.
“It had to be somebody we would all want to hang out with — and not just on camera,” Kelly said. “Because we all do hang out together when we’re not on-camera. That’s an important thing. He is just so professional and kind to everyone… He’s kind backstage, and he’s kind first thing in the morning. He calls everyone by name. He’s just a nice guy. That’s what I envisioned we would have with the new host.”
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And since he’s joined, Ryan’s had nothing but respect for Kelly and the show as a whole: “With Ryan, there’s no competition,” an insider told Closer Weekly in an exclusive interview. “Kelly is clearly the boss. Ryan knows that, and he’s respectful. But Kelly says she and Ryan have a very equal partnership.”
Well, we hope that means Ryan will get another chance to prove himself!
