5 Wrong Rumors About Kelly Ripa And Ryan Seacrest

Truth rating: 0

(ABC)

This month marked one year since the start of “Live with Kelly and Ryan.” But ever since Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest first teamed up, the tabloids have been trying to tear them apart. Below, Gossip Cop looks back at five wrong rumors about the Emmy-nominated hosting duo.

Not even two days after it was revealed Seacrest would be Michael Strahan’s replacement on “Live,” RadarOnline alleged Ripa was against hiring him. The site claimed the former soap actress wanted to be paired with someone who was not as “big of a star as she is” so she could “boss around” her broadcasting partner. Curiously, the blog didn’t mention with whom she supposedly preferred to work instead. The website also ignored Ripa’s palpable enthusiasm when she introduced Seacrest as her new co-host, as well as the fact that she had been promoted to executive producer on the talk show, which meant she had a direct say in who would be joining her at the table. It was also just plain illogical to think producers and executives would go against what she wanted, given the fallout the network faced after Strahan’s exit was orchestrated without her knowledge. Additionally, an ABC insider confirmed to Gossip Cop, “Kelly was in charge from the beginning and glad everything worked out” to get Seacrest on board.

In August, the online publication’s sister outlet, the National Enquirer, ran a cover story announcing Ripa was threatening to quit “Live” over Seacrest’s “betrayal.” The premise was that with “American Idol” returning, Seacrest was secretly trying to get the morning show moved to the West Coast to better suit his busy schedule. Enraged over the possibility, it was alleged Ripa gave an “ultimatum,” and told execs “that if push comes to shove, she’s ready to walk.” Upon investigating, however, Gossip Cop learned that Seacrest never requested “Live” be relocated, so Ripa had nothing to be upset about. In fact, when it was officially announced Seacrest would host the “Idol” reboot, it was explained he would fly back and forth in order to shoot both shows. And that’s exactly what he did this spring as the music competition aired.

The following month, Life & Style published its own cover story claiming Kim Kardashian could end up replacing Ripa on “Live.” After the reality star served as a guest co-host in Ripa’s absence, the magazine maintained Seacrest was campaigning for her to take the gig permanently, and the show’s bosses were intrigued. “Kim could very well be the future of ‘Live.’ Kelly just can’t compete with her fan base,” a so-called “source” was quoted as saying. It was further alleged Ripa was “suspicious” there was a plot to oust her. It seemed apparent, though, that this narrative was only concocted to capitalize on Kardashian’s recent guest appearance and her known relationship with Seacrest, who produces “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” Gossip Cop was assured there were no discussions whatsoever about replacing Ripa. It became clear our reporting was correct when Kardashian was welcomed back to “Live with Kelly and Ryan” only weeks ago on May 11 as a plain, old guest with Ripa in her usual position.

The tabloid continued to show it was ill-informed in April when it abandoned the storyline about Seacrest replacing Ripa with Kardashian to contend Ripa wanted to replace Seacrest with Jerry O’Connell. Got that? In that piece, the outlet alleged Ripa was upset about the sexual misconduct allegation leveled against Seacrest and was regretting not picking O’Connell, a frequent fill-in in the past, to be her co-host. Significantly, nowhere was it mentioned that Ripa had already defended Seacrest on-air, touting how “lucky” she was to work with him. The article also didn’t acknowledge that Seacrest was an executive producer, just as Ripa is, making it practically impossible for her to make a unilateral decision about the show’s future without him. A spokesperson for Ripa further told Gossip Cop it was false she had any desire to replace Seacrest with anyone at all.

A few weeks later, everything came full circle when both Life & Style and HollywoodLife claimed Ripa was worried about having an “awkward run-in” with Strahan at the Daytime Emmys. With “Live” and “GMA” both nominated, it was alleged “all are expected to attend,” and that Ripa would at least have “secret weapons” in the form of Seacrest and her husband, Mark Consuelos, by her side. But as Gossip Cop pointed out, Ripa hadn’t been to the Daytime Emmys since 2003, regardless of any subsequent nominations. What’s more is her rep told us that she wouldn’t be attending this time either, calling the tale “another classic [B.S.] story.” Sure enough, she didn’t go, and neither did Seacrest or Strahan, for that matter.

As evident here, Life & Style has been responsible for a lot of these bogus stories. But the tabloid isn’t the only guilty party, and this is actually just a fraction of the wrong rumors Gossip Cop has corrected about Ripa and Seacrest in the past 12 months. Now as they head into their second year as the co-hosts of “Live,” we suspect the gossip media will continue to spread misinformation about nonexistent issues between them. We’ll continue transparently separating fact from fiction as necessary.