The Live With Kelly and Mark Exit Absolutely *No One* Saw Coming

From Regis Philbin to Ryan Seacrest, many hosts have come and gone through the doors of Live over the years, but no one has been as impactful as the talk show’s most recent departure. Who’s leaving Live With Kelly and Mark? Keep reading for the exit that’s making waves on ABC.

Live With Kelly and Mark, also known as just Live, is ABC’s morning talk show hosted by married couple and All My Children alums Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. The series premiered in 1983 under the title The Morning Show with Regis Philbin and Cyndy Garvey. Garvey was replaced by Kathie Lee Gifford in 1988, which is when the talk was retitled as Live With Regis and Kathie Lee, a format is still uses today.

Ripa joined the talk show in 2001 and went on to host the show with Philbin, Michael Strahan, and Ryan Seacrest before its current iteration, Live With Kelly and Mark, featuring her husband, Mark Consuelos, in 2023. With more than 40 years on television, many hosts have come and gone from Live over the years. But none of them have been as emotional as the talk show’s newest exit. So who’s leaving Live With Kelly and Mark? Read on for the departure that everyone on the staff is reeling over.

Who’s leaving Live With Kelly and Mark?

Who’s leaving Live With Kelly and Mark? Variety announced on May 1, 2024, that Art Moore, the executive-in-charge of production of Live With Kelly and Mark (and its predecessors), is retiring after decades on the talk show.

Moore, who is also the  WABC-TV New York Vice president of programming, will leave Live With Kelly and Mark in September 2024. The talk show’s hosts, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, are set to announce the news during their chat segment. After the news, the official Live With Kelly and Mark Instagram account shared an Instagram Story video of Ripa hugging Moore on the set of the talk show. “Art Moore is retiring in September,” read the caption.

Moore had worked at WABC since 1989. He’s also served as an executive producer for the Oscars preshow, Road to Gold, which was syndicated for more than two decades. Moore has also worked on local specials on WABC, as well as won two New York Emmy Awards. Moore, who’s worked for ABC for 50 years, got his start on the network at Capital Cities’ WKBW-TV Buffalo and WBVI-TV Philadelphia, where he was an executive producer and director of “AM Philadelphia” and the director of station promotion and advertising.

“Art Moore is simply the best of the best,” Debra OConnell, president, News Group and Networks, Disney Entertainment, said in a statement to Variety at the time of Moore’s exit announcement. “His creativity, ability to handle any production challenge and keen sense of what the audience wants is unparalleled in daytime television, and can only be rivaled by his huge heart, the guiding hand he lends to any colleague at any time, and the sheer joy he brings to the job. Words don’t adequately express how much he is appreciated and will be missed – not just across the company but with viewers who have come to love him as much as we do.”

After the news of Moore’s exit, Marilu Galvez, president and GM of WABC, also sent a letter to staffers about Moore’ retirement. “I have some bittersweet news to share – our beloved Art Moore is announcing his plans to retire this September,” the letter read. The message went on to describe Moore’s impact on Live With Kelly and Mark.

“He is a multi-Emmy award winner and has been in charge of production for some of the most successful and prolific series in syndication history… most notably, the #1 entertainment talk show on television, “Live with Kelly and Mark,” the letter read. “In fact, Art has been with “Live…” almost since its inception 36 years ago, making an indelible mark on not just the show but the daytime television landscape overall and winning the hearts of viewers nationwide along the way. Kelly and Mark are sharing with viewers right now, and I know they’ll have much more to say about Art over the coming months.”

The letter concluded, “On a personal note, Art has been a friend, a mentor, and now, a trusted and much valued colleague whose insights on my leadership team I greatly appreciate. Debra, Chad and I will miss him greatly and very much look forward to giving him the sendoff celebration he deserves. In the meantime, please join me in thanking Art and wishing him the best on a well-earned retirement.”

 For more on ABC morning shows, check out our gallery on who Good Morning America‘s hosts are married to and dating in real life.