Kelly Ripa Has Something To Say About Ryan Seacrest's Much Younger Girlfriend

Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest continue to be the best of friends both on and off the air — so much so, in fact, that Ripa has something to say about who Seacrest is currently dating.

Ripa and Seacrest were friends long before they started co-hosting "Live with Kelly and Ryan," and being on the morning talk show only helped solidify their bond. "We share everything with each other, on the show and off the show," Seacrest told Entertainment Weekly in February 2021. "It's an interesting dynamic. I'm very close to her husband as well. Mark and I speak often in text, often talk to each other, about life and things that we're working on or things that we want to do."

Ripa even shared that she enjoys working with Seacrest so much that she postponed her plans for retirement. "I talk about this with Ryan all the time because I was really looking to retire like by now, but Ryan Seacrest is so fabulous to work with and he is such a good friend," she shared in an interview with Parade. "We've been friends for two decades, and I've got to tell you he is really such a draw to me there. I just love working with him so much. He makes every day feel like I'm not working and that's when you know you have a great working relationship." The co-hosts are practically family at this point, and because they're close, Ripa has opinions on Seacrest's dating life, including his current relationship with his new girlfriend, Aubrey Paige.

Ryan Seacrest's relationship with model Aubrey Paige has been met with a bit of controversy due to their 23-year age gap, but it's not a problem for Kelly Ripa. During a recent episode of "Live with Kelly and Ryan," the "All My Children" actor shared that, at her husband Mark Consuelos' birthday party, Paige was "the most exciting guest that came."

"Kelly said, 'We're all happy you're here and that you exist because we weren't sure there was somebody,'" Seacrest recalled of Ripa and Paige's first encounter, per People, to which Ripa replied, "We were starting to be like, 'Maybe he doesn't have a special person and maybe we should check in on him more often?'" But Seacrest indeed turned out to have someone in his life and Ripa gave her the stamp of approval. "I am so fond of her," she said.

Meanwhile, Consuelos seems to have a soft spot for Seacrest, too. On a 2017 episode of "Live," Ripa dished how much her husband adores her co-host. "He loves you too so much," she said at the time, per Us Weekly. "It gives him such a sense of satisfaction to just chill with another dude."