Ryan Seacrest Leaving ‘Live’ And Kelly Ripa

Ryan Seacrest is leaving “Live with Kelly and Ryan” — and Kelly Ripa’s husband, Mark Consuelos, is taking his place.

The NY Post reports Seacrest broke the “bittersweet” news 16 minutes into Thursday’s episode of the morning talk show.

“This is something that [Kelly] and I have been talking about for a long time, and it was a tough, tough decision. Last year we spoke, and I made the decision to make this my last season as co-host,” he told viewers.

“What I plan to do is once ‘American Idol’ starts from Los Angeles later this spring, I’ll head out to the West Coast and host that show,” Seacrest explained of the timeline of his exit, vowing to return “to guest host and fill in” at times.

Calling her outgoing co-host “one of [her] best friends,” Ripa, 52, noted that Seacrest, 48, was only “supposed to be here for three years” but ended up staying for six. She then shared the news that Consuelos, 51, will permanently replace her longtime pal.

“The only person I can think of that is capable of holding [Ryan’s] torch the way [he has] held it would be my husband, Mark Consuelos, in what Ryan and I are calling the nation’s weirdest social experiment,” she joked.

Ripa previously worked alongside Regis Philbin from 2001 to 2011 followed by Michael Strahan from 2012 to 2016.