Kelly Ripa has auditioned "Live! With Kelly" co-hosts since Regis Philbin left the show in November 2011, but one name can be ruled out: Mark Consuelos, Ripa's husband.
“No one would make me happier than Mark, but he values our marriage and he says that he doesn’t see how we could stay married and both do that show," Ripa told George Wayne in a new Vanity Fair interview appearing in the June 2012 issue.
When Kathie Lee Gifford left "Live!" in 2000, Philbin hosted the program solo with a rotating cast of guest co-hosts for a year before Ripa officially joined. The show is following a similar format this year.
"I've been through it from the other side," Ripa told the Associated Press. "I sort of understand how it works, and what it is they're looking for, and how this process can't be rushed."
Several famous faces have been making return appearances to "Live! With Kelly" (weekdays on ABC). Consuelos, "Saturday Night Live's" Seth Meyers, NY1's Pat Kiernan, comedian D.L. Hughley, actor Jerry O'Connell, former football player Michael Strahan and singer Josh Groban have all made several appearances at the desk alongside Ripa.
"Every day we come up with new ideas, and we get new revelations about who the new host should or shouldn't be," executive producer Michael Gelman said in January 2012. "The chemistry is key -- and not just with Kelly, but with the audience and the staff and the format."