Anderson Cooper scores new CNN deal, limits ‘Live! with Kelly’ possibility

We have not thought about it in quite some time, but it still remains a fact: We still have not learned who is going to co-host “Live! with Kelly” alongside Kelly Ripa. Over four months have passed since Michael Strahan left the show for “Good Morning America,” and now one of the biggest co-host possibilities out there seems to be off of the table.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the host of “Anderson Cooper 360” signed a new deal recently with CNN, one that will keep him on board the network to host the program, while also allowing him to do future assignments for “60 Minutes.” Basically, this allows him to be able to continue to do the same sort of duties that he is doing at present.

However, what this deal will likely keep him from doing is co-hosting “Live! with Kelly” on a regular basis, though he can still guest-host from time to time if he so chooses.

What makes the wait for a potential co-host on “Live! with Kelly” all the more interesting is that it was more than a month ago when the news first came out that racing legend Jeff Gordon could become the new star of the show; however, nothing ultimately came out of that. We would like to imagine that the show would like another permanent host at some point, mostly because it is hard to really gauge chemistry when there is such a revolving door like the one that is going on right now.

Of course, the most important thing for us as a TV viewer is whether or not we continue to see Cooper do his annual New Year’s Eve broadcast with Kathy Griffin. At present, this is what we care about the most.

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