This Lucky High School Teacher Could Be Kelly Ripa’s New Co-Host

Ever since Michael Strahan announced his unexpected departure from “Live! With Kelly and Michael,” the internet has been abuzz with rumors about his possible replacement. Would it be Bravo’s Andy Cohen? E!’s Joel McHale? What about Anderson Cooper, Fred Savage or even Rob Lowe?

Well, if Live! fans have their way, they might say: None of the above. In fact, it seems that viewers are gravitating towards someone who is not a star at all. Richard Curtis, a high school teacher from Pennsylvania, is currently one of the favorites to be Ripa’s new co-host.

As People reports, Curtis beat out thousands of other contestants in order to receive a chance to audition for the part. But that was just the beginning. From there, he had to undergo a grueling trial process with producers, and only then was he cleared to go on-air.

However, his challenges are far from over! He had to perform a “Juju on the Beat” dance-off on air:

And undergo a rapid fire question-and-answer session…

… as well as a teleprompter challenge…

… and even try his hand at bottle flipping (it’s harder than it looks, people)!

So far, Curtis has met every new challenge with humor and a lot of heart, so it is easy to understand why so many viewers want him to be the new co-host. This also includes all the students at his school! All the students gathered to watched Curtis on Live! in the school auditorium, and they all cheered him on and wished him well. (Although, Curtis admits that they did give him lots of guff about his Juju dance-off!)

Curtis is also a happy husband and proud father.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ32VdDhYAE/?taken-by=mrrichcurtis

He will back in the hosting chair on Nov. 7. So what do you think? Do you think he has what it takes to be Kelly Ripa’s new right-hand man?