Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are giving Vanna White a friendly word of warning regarding her new co-host Ryan Seacrest.
During Thursday’s episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, the eponymous co-hosts filled in the Wheel of Fortune mainstay on some of Seacrest’s quirks they discovered over his six-season run on the daytime talk show.
When White, 66, revealed the two were in communications, Ripa 53, added how happy she was to hear that the 48-year-old television personality was cast to succeed Pat Sajak.
“I was very happy because when a host leaves and another host comes in, you never know what you’re gonna get,” she explained. “And I thought, ‘Pat is such a nice guy’ so I’m happy that the new version of Pat would also be a nice guy.”
White then asked Ripa to “tell me everything” about her new co-host, to which Consuelos, 52, stepped in and ironically claimed, “He can’t spell.”
“What!?” she exclaimed as Ripa agreed.
Consuelos asked if she noticed his terrible spelling during their text conversations, and though White didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, she noted, “Maybe he’s on his best behavior?”
“Maybe he’s dictating a text and somebody’s typing it for him,” Ripa continued. “Because I will say — and I can say this freely, we all have experienced it here — when Ryan Seacrest texts you, you say to yourself, ‘This person is trying to tell me something.’ That’s the first thing is that you realize that Ryan is trying to tell you something, but oftentimes, you just don’t know what that is.”
After thanking Ripa and Consuelos for their warnings, White revealed she doesn’t tire from playing word games despite her tenure on Wheel of Fortune and shared that she often plays Wordle and Words with Friends.
“Spelling is not my strong suit,” Ripa said, as White and Consuelos bonded over their shared love of word games. “I’m abysmal at spelling. Even when the puzzle is solved on Wheel of Fortune, it takes me a minute to figure out what it says. Like, I’m not kidding.”
She added, “I’m not proud of it. Mark goes, ‘What do you mean you don’t understand what that says?’”
Back in July, Sony Pictures Television announced that Seacrest had been tapped as Sajak’s replacement on Wheel of Fortune after he announced he would be stepping back as host after a 40-year-long run.
Last month, the American Idol host corroborated Ripa and Consuelos’ observations and told he felt performance anxiety about stepping into Sajak’s role.
“I’m sure I will get nervous jitters,” he said. “The show has been a staple for people and myself and my family forever. And so you just want to walk out there and do what’s been happening for so many years and not screw it up.”
“Actually, I’m a terrible speller,” Seacrest confessed. “But, on the show I’m better than on my cell phone when I type or text.”
Live with Kelly and Mark airs weekday mornings on ABC. Wheel of Fortune airs weekdays at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.
