Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest Talk Pre-Show Routine

Water Mill’s Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, who host Live! with Kelly and Ryan, talked to PEOPLE about their working relationship during their special PaleyLive: An Evening with Kelly and Ryan event.

“The short version is we don’t connect with each other until 60 seconds before we’re going on the air,” Seacrest said. “I scream to her in the dressing room, ‘Morning! Hi, Ripa.'”

Ripa added that they “text each other all night long…I think that Ryan makes us all better because he is so professional,” she added. “He really does keep it tight. It’s a tight show and he adds so much with that level of expectation that it has literally made the entire team rise up and want to say, ‘Oh, that’s right. People are watching this show.’”

Seacrest, a longtime friend of Ripa, joined Live! in 2017 following the surprise exit of co-host Michael Strahan, who left the show for Good Morning America. Ripa originally joined Live! when Regis Philbin was the host in 2001, replacing East End regular Kathie Lee Gifford.

ABC recently ordered a pilot for Work Wife, a single-camera comedy inspired by the pair’s friendship and professional partnership. Ripa and Seacrest have signed on to produce the new show, which is being developed by The Real O’Neals creators David Windsor and Casey Johnson.