Things are not looking good for Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest at Live. According to Life & Style, the duo’s daytime talk show has been experiencing sinking ratings in the last few months — and Kelly totally blames Ryan for not resonating with her loyal audience.
MORE: Here’s Why Kelly Ripa Is Often Missing From ‘Live With Kelly and Ryan’
“The show is a wreck at the moment… Ryan is just not connecting with daytime viewers. He appeals to a much younger, music-oriented audience. Kelly blames the show. She feels [execs] made a huge miscalculation bringing him on to Live,” an insider recently revealed. Since Ryan, 42, officially joined Live as Kelly’s new co-host on May 1, 2017, the show’s ratings have reportedly dipped 23 percent compared to the same time period last year. Viewership again dropped 12 percent one week after the excitement of Ryan’s addition to the show faded.
“For the show to not be a huge hit is a blow to Ryan’s ego. It felt very safe adding Ryan to Live. No one at the network thought that adding him was a huge risk,” sources told Life & Style. Though their program is experiencing a loss of fans, Kelly, 46, and Ryan still seem to be getting along on-camera. “Kelly and Ryan like and have a high regard for each other. They’re not angry with one another. It’s just been a real TV marriage mismatch,” an insider said.
Unfortunately, the news that Ryan is joining the upcoming American Idol reboot has caused some drama behind-the-scenes at Live as Kelly is reportedly not thrilled that her co-host is taking on yet another gig. “She didn’t know about the_ American Idol_ revival,” a source close to Kelly said. “When she found out she was truly rattled.”
Another TV insider confessed the mom-of-three fears Ryan will ditch her just like her former co-host Michael Strahan recently did. “She feels stabbed in the back and believes she’s going to lose Ryan just like she lost Michael,” the source said. “Kelly is truly pissed that, after all the time ABC spent negotiating with Ryan for Live, they would then buy the show that made him a household name and take him away. [She] really thought Live would be Ryan’s focus.”
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