Ryan Seacrest Jokes That Kelly Ripa is “Standoff-ish” After She Says She Doesn’t Like Hugs on ‘Live’

Don’t hug Kelly Ripa! During this morning’s episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, the longtime host put the kibosh on most types of physical touch, prompting Ryan Seacrest to joke that she’s “standoff-ish.”

Seacrest — who was filling in again for Mark Consuelos — sparked the conversation when he brought up today’s National Handshake Day. However, Ripa wasn’t celebrating, saying, “I still don’t love it,” before opting to fist-bump her guest host instead.

“People will shake your hand and I’m like, ‘Now I gotta go wash my hands again,'” she explained. “Because you never know. You never know who’s just sneezed into their hand.”

Attempting to make things better, Seacrest pointed out that today is also “National Hug Holiday” — but Ripa, who was visibly cringing, was still not impressed, telling her friend that she doesn’t “love a hug, either.”

“Well it’s also shared by National Standoff-ish Day,” Seacrest quipped, to which Ripa replied, “Let me know when it’s National Middle Finger Day.”

After Seacrest revealed that he likes a “good hug,” the All My Children alum backpedaled her previous statement. She clarified, “It’s not that I’m anti-hug. It’s just that we’re still in triple-demic territory. I don’t need to be hugging people I don’t know.”

Fair enough!

Meanwhile, Seacrest — who was officially named as Wheel of Fortune’s new host earlier this week — admitted that he’ll respond to texts he “probably” didn’t read by simply writing, “Hugs.” Although Ripa claimed his texts to her are “way more involved” than that, the American Idol host added that he knows his audience with her. After all, they co-hosted Live for six years together before he passed the baton to Consuelos back in April.

“Anytime he wants to air a grievance he comes right to Dr. Grievance,” Ripa joked. “If you’ve got something to complain about, come to mommy.”

Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. You can find local listings on their website.