Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos
Pictured: Kelly Ripa attending the 90th Annual Academy Awards with husband Mark Consuelos at Hollywood & Highland Center in California on March 4, 2018. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

KEY POINTS

  • Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos joked that they want to finish their careers together
  • Consuelos has served as a guest host of "Live" many times over the years
  • Ryan Seacrest announced Thursday that the current season would be his last

Kelly Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos are looking forward to working together as he prepares to take over for Ryan Seacrest on "Live."

Last week, Seacrest announced that the current season of the ABC morning show would be his last and that Consuelos, who has appeared as a guest host on "Live" many times over the years, will step in after he exits.

Days after the announcement, Ripa and Consuelos opened up to Us Weekly about cohosting "Live," nearly three decades after they first started working together.

"We figured that since we started our careers together, we might as well finish them together," the "Riverdale" star and Ripa joked. "We figured the idea 'what could possibly go wrong?' is something we'd definitely like to explore. Now, we have the chance."

The celebrity couple met on the set of ABC's "All My Children" in 1995 and got married the following year. Ripa and Consuelos share three children — Michael, 25, Lola, 21, and Joaquin, 19.

"So many wonderful moments have happened while with ABC, so it only makes sense for us to come full circle and work together once again for the show that has given us so much joy and so many years of memories," Ripa added.

Ripa has been on "Live" since 2001. She cohosted the show with the late Regis Philbin until 2011.

While announcing his departure during Thursday's broadcast, Seacrest, who joined the show in 2017, revealed that he was only supposed to join her for three seasons but decided to extend his stay.

"Kelly and I have some news here. This is something that she and I have been talking about for a long time and it was a tough, tough decision. Last year, we spoke and I made the decision to make this my last season as cohost with Kelly here on 'Live With Kelly and Ryan,' which is bittersweet," Seacrest said at the time.

He and Ripa confirmed that her husband would be replacing Seacrest as her cohost.

"We are so aware of the importance of continuity and consistency and, like, the familial vibe that we all have here," she said. "It only makes sense to not just our viewing audience at home, but our audience here within our staff, our support system, our extended family, to bring in somebody that we know and love and who's really always been here. The only person I can think of that is capable of, you know, holding your torch the way you have held it. And that would be, my husband, Mark Consuelos, in what Ryan and I are calling the nation's weirdest social experiment."

Seacrest shared the same news on Instagram alongside a series of photos with Ripa from their show.

In the post, the TV personality wrote that he was "going to miss my work wife and all the laughter we share." He also revealed that he was meant to be on the show for "[three] years, but I loved the job and working with Kelly so much that I extended my time and last year I made the decision to stay on for one more final season."

Seacrest added that he was grateful for the opportunity and that he will be transitioning out of "Live" this spring as he films "American Idol" Season 21. He also congratulated Consuelos on his new gig.

"And congratulations to my brother Mark, feel free to remodel my dressing room!" Seacrest concluded.

Kelly Ripa Ryan Seacrest
Kelly Ripa has reportedly selected Ryan Seacrest as her new “Live” co-host. She is pictured at the Logo TV Fire Island Premiere Party in New York City on April 20, 2017. Seacrest is seen at the MOCA Gala honoring Jeff Koons in Los Angeles on April 29, 2017. Getty Images