Ryan Seacrest to leave ‘Live with Kelly and Ryan’ this spring

Atlanta native Ryan Seacrest announced Thursday on “Live with Kelly and Ryan” that he will leave the show after six years as Kelly Ripa’s co host. Ripa’s husband, Mark Consuelos, will take over, and the show will be renamed “Live with Kelly and Mark.”

“It was a tough, tough decision,” said Seacrest, who called the move “bittersweet.”

“You are a gem,” Ripa said. “You are one of my best friends. The greatest part of this entire experience is you’ve gone from being a friend to a family member.”

Seacrest lauded Ripa’s “kindness, thoughtfulness and levity.” He said he had originally committed to three years with the show but ended up doing six because he enjoyed it so much.

The Dunwoody High School graduate is starting his 21st season Sunday as host of “American Idol” on ABC. He said when “Idol” goes live in a few weeks, he will host the show from Los Angeles but will come back to fill in during the rest of the season.

Seacrest’s primary residence for the past two-plus decades has been in Los Angeles. He had to uproot himself to New York City to be on the daily ABC talk show.

He also runs his own production company, hosts a syndicated morning radio show and a midday show, and is front and center on ABC’S New Year’s show.

Seacrest was Ripa’s third co-host after Regis Philbin and Michael Strahan. Ripa joined the show in 2001.

According to Variety,“live with Kelly and Ryan” is currently the No. 1 daytime talk show in both total viewers and household ratings. “Live” has been the highest-rated daytime talk show for 56 straight weeks among women ages 25-54.