Ryan Seacrest has officially stepped away from the talk show previously known as Live with Kelly and Ryan, and neither he nor Kelly Ripa wasted any time moving forward. After an emotional farewell episode April 14 that was filled with memories, tears and, of course, that clip of Seacrest falling out of his chair, Ripa’s husband Mark Consuelos took the reins to start this week, with the premiere of Live with Kelly and Mark. But don’t think the former host was hanging around New York for sentimental reasons; Seacrest is already back in Los Angeles, enjoying the sun and his California chickens.
While the American Idol host didn’t say too much about his reasons for leaving the daytime talk show after six years — other than to point out he’d only ever planned to stay for a few years — it’s likely that being bicoastal was taking a toll, as the host was missing an increasing number of episodes in an effort to avoid exhaustion. Ryan Seacrest seemed anything but exhausted, when he posted a photo of himself whipping up a “simple Sunday brunch” on Instagram:
