The past two weeks have been a total whirlwind for “Live!” co-hosts Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan, who are now parting ways. Apparently, the network broke the news to Ripa in such an abrupt manner that she refused to go on the show for a few days and instead celebrated her 20th anniversary with husband Mark Consuelos.
Now, the question on everyone’s mind is who will replace Strahan? Rumors that “Extra” host Mario Lopez could take over are running high and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper is also said to be giving it another shot, after previously trying to get the gig but instead got his own morning show that was promptly cancelled.
The two are playing coy and have not been openly competing for the job, but have instead danced around interviewers' questions. Lopez was on “The Ellen Show” last week, where he was asked about joining Ripa but he was able circle around the rumors very gracefully. “That’s very flattering. Very flattering. You’re so nice,” Lopez told Ellen when she mentioned the rumors. “I know some people were saying that. It’s very flattering. I love Kelly. I’ve guest hosted with her a few times. She’s awesome.”
Then, Lopez sort of changed the subject by saying, if anything was to be true, he would have to run it by his wife. “I gotta go over everything with Mrs. Lopez. She’s the real boss of the house so we’ll see what she has to say about that!”
As for Cooper, he paid a visit to his pal Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live,” where he was asked about the rumors that he could be the next “Live!” host. "Look, I’m very happy at CNN,” Cooper explained. “It would be a dream to work with Kelly, but nobody’s offering anything, so...” However, these two pals reportedly have some advantage in the game since Ripa mentioned she would love for either Cooper or Cohen to take Strahan's place.
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