Ryan Seacrest Set to Return to ‘Live’ Just One Month After Exit

Just one month after making his (pre-recorded) exit from the show, Ryan Seacrest will be returning to Live for a special guest appearance later this week.

Seacrest will stop by this Thursday’s (May 18) broadcast to promote the American Idol season finale, per Page Six. This will be his first appearance on the show since stepping away as co-host on April 14.

Seacrest will be joining Kelly Ripa and her husband and new co-host, Mark Consuelos, who took over for Seacrest after his exit.

Despite sharing an emotional farewell with Ripa, who was his longtime friend and co-host on Live, Seacrest has promised time and time again that he plans to return to the show.

“This isn’t the end, I’m going to be back,” Seacrest told People. “This place is remarkable. I’m going to miss coming into this studio to see the people who have worked here for so long… So I’ll definitely be visiting from time to time.”

When he announced his decision to leave Live, Seacrest shared that he wanted more time to focus on his pursuits outside of the show, including hosting American Idol and opening his charity, Ryan Seacrest Foundation Studios. He and Ripa had been co-hosts on the show for six years.

On his last day, Seacrest shared that he was “very lucky man” to have hosted the show with Ripa for so long.

“This has been the fastest six years of my life,” Ripa said. “I’m so grateful that our success together on this show has lead to us developing an even closer, yet co-dependent relationship.”

Seacrest might be returning to Live for business, but it’ll be fun to see him reunite with Ripa and Consuelos one more time.

Live with Kelly and Mark airs weekdays at 9/8c on ABC.