Kelly Ripa: Anderson Cooper Is the 'Live' Host 'That Got Away'

Imagining what might have been. Kelly Ripa described her close friend Anderson Cooper as “the one that got away” when she discussed who her new Live cohost would be during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live on Wednesday, November 30.

It was an episode of must-see TV as the pair guested on mutual friend Andy Cohen‘s Bravo talk show, discussing everything from Billy Bush to whether the CNN host has ever had sex with a woman to how Cohen ruined a blind date he was set up on with Cooper, 49.

Dozens of celebrities have filled in as guest hosts alongside Ripa, 46, on Live since Michael Strahan left the show in May, but the former daytime soap star revealed that she really wanted the host of Anderson Cooper 360 to sit by her side.

“Anderson re-signed with CNN, but he would have been your number one pick, right Kelly?” Cohen, 48, asked Ripa.

“He’s my life. He really is,” she replied. “He’s the one that got away and keeps getting away and gets away all the time.”

Cooper, for his part, admitted back in April that it would be a “dream” to work with Ripa on Live.

Even though it’s been six months since Strahan headed to Good Morning America, don’t expect his Live replacement to be announced imminently.

“We really didn’t set a time frame for ourselves. We just wanted to wait until we found the right person,” Ripa told Cohen. “What we didn’t anticipate was that we would have such an outpouring of interest, so our list got very long very quickly. So we’ve been trying to keep it as narrow as possible, but then people pop up.”

“We’ve had a great time,” she continued. “I have to say I feel really lucky and really embarrassed at our good fortune.”

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tr%2FMmp6aspmjsm%2BvzqZmnqakmr%2B1rcinpJ6mpGS7psPSaKKepJyuerO1z5pkmqaUmr%2B0u81mmqinoJq%2FbrXSZquhnV2htrexjKGmrKxdqbWiwIygpq1lkayuunnWbWxsaWNrfA%3D%3D