Ryan Seacrest plots surprise return to ‘Live With Kelly and Mark’

It’s back to “Live With Kelly and Ryan” – temporarily, at least.

Ryan Seacrest, 48, is set to return to his old talk show stomping grounds alongside Kelly Ripa — since retitled “Live With Kelly and Mark” and featuring her co-host husband, Mark Consuelos — for a guest appearance on Thursday, The Post can confirm.

The former series star, replaced by Consuelos in April, is coming back to promote the Season 21 “American Idol” finale, which airs on Sunday on ABC.

An insider at the show confirmed the news to The Post; a source close to Seacrest additionally added that he is “looking forward to it.”

It will mark Seacrest’s first appearance back since his emotional pre-taped sendoff that aired on April 14.

He announced his surprise departure in February.

Seacrest first joined Ripa in 2017 and went on to host alongside her for six seasons.

He made his swansong announcement live on air, explaining that he wanted to relocate to Los Angeles, which was something that he said played a big role in his decision.

“This is something that [Kelly] and I have been talking about for a long time, and it was a tough, tough decision,” Seacrest stated. “Last year we spoke, and I made the decision to make this my last season as co-host.”

However, Seacrest’s appearance on the show may be just the first of many.

When he left, he stated that he would be back as an occasional guest host, according to USA Today.

During an interview with Variety shortly before his exit, he expressed how much he enjoyed being on the show and co-hosting with Ripa.

“I was looking back at the six years and remembering when initially it was just going to be three,” he told the outlet at the time.

“And then with each year that went by, I continued to extend my contract because I love sitting next to my partner and having this unique and casual connection to the people that watch.”

In 2019, Ripa and Seacrest won a Daytime Emmy for outstanding entertainment talk show hosts.

Since Seacrest’s departure, Ripa’s husband has taken over the spot, with mixed reactions from some fans over the new dynamic.

However, Ripa and her husband, Consuelos, told People in an April interview that they were ready for anything that the show had to bring and were fearless to get into some real-life topics.

“We’re not afraid to go there,” Ripa told the outlet. “We have the confidence in our marriage that no matter what we discuss, I don’t mind being the villain in the argument, nor does Mark. Neither one of us needs to be the hero.”

Some of their guests so far have included Jennifer Lopez, Chris Pratt, Michael J. Fox and Ripa’s pal, Bravo and “Real Housewives” honcho Andy Cohen.

Ripa has been a host of the show since 2001, taking over then for Kathie Lee Gifford and joining series fixture Regis Philbin.

Ripa and Consuelos recently celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary.

They share three children together: Michael, 25, Lola, 21, and Joaquin, 20.