Earlier today, Pat Kiernan's dreams came true! He joined Kelly Ripa as the guest co-host on this morning's Live! with Kelly. Pat's stint as guest co-host came a year after being called a dark horse contender for the position. On the show, the NY1 host did his thing, bringing his expertise at turning newspapers to the show.
Before the show, we spoke to several audience members, asking them if they knew who Pat Kiernan was and what they thought was necessary for a permanent co-host. Andy from Pittsburgh, who had no idea who Pat was, said any co-host would have to be "outgoing and talkative." Meanwhile, RJ from the Lower East Side thinks that Live! needs someone who "won't overshadow Kelly." Eileen from rural New Jersey didn't know him, but thought that it was important that a future co-host be from New York City because it "gives her a taste of the city." We did manage to find a Kiernaniac in the audience: NYC resident Jian Sun said that she was "super excited" for his co-hosting duties and that he "has what it takes to be a permanent host, but the nation's not familiar with him." Commenting about what is needed for Kelly's future co-host, Jian (who watches both NY1 in the mornings and Live!) said "chemistry is important and celebrity [co-hosts] are better at being in the public eye."
Wondering how Pat thought it went? Well, we sat down with him after the show and asked him a few questions! Pat said the show "goes by so fast" and that "overall, it felt great with Kelly. She's so easy to work with that there was no tension about who was speaking. I'm content and I did what I wanted to." His favorite segments from the show included the spring cleaning segment (where he worked hard to remove a pen stain) and the interview with Willem Dafoe, who he "worked" with on 4:44 Last Day on Earth. When asked what his chances were of coming back, Pat told us, "I don't want to speculate too much about what their next steps are, but if this ends up as only one day, I'm fine with that. But I think I held my own."
We also spoke to Michael Gelman, Live's executive producer. Gelman said that today's show was great and Pat and Kelly had "a lot of fun together and nice chemistry together." As to how Pat managed to make it to the co-host seat, Gelman told us that Live's production team was familiar with him (from NY1) and another producer at the show thought Pat was terrific. Gelman added that the team "always thought about trying him and his social media following was just icing on the cake."
As for a permanent co-host, Gelman said "chemistry with Kelly, the format and the audience are all key. Pat did a great job today and the studio audience seemed to really like him" despite the fact that much of the audience aren't from NYC and, therefore, familiar with him.
Gelman also explained there's no specific timeframe for finding a permanent co-host and they're looking for a right fit versus rushing the process. The "dating process" with the co-hosts is a lot more work for Kelly and the staff, but it is exciting and fun to see Kelly interact with all the people. It seems like the viewers enjoy the guest co-hosts as well. Since Regis Philbin left Live, ratings are up over the same time last year.
Did you watch Pat today? What did you think?
