“This is our audience’s favorite show of the year,” Kelly Ripa told Eyewitness News at the taping of Friday’s show.

Ryan Seacrest added, “It is incredible to see audience members’ great creativity when it comes to this day.”

The duo kicked off the episode as astronauts for their “It’s Out of This World” theme, joking about trips to space made by Sir Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, William Shatner and “now the next chapter” — a morning show in space.

“1969, the first man walked on the moon. 2021, a year of firsts for space travel. Now, the next chapter that you expected. And even fewer wanted. The first talk show in space,” the announcer began.

Ripa, 51, and Seacrest, 46, subsequently emerged from a fake spaceship.

“It wasn’t that hard. We did a lot of work. A lot of preparation. And a lot of training,” the former soap star quipped. “Thank you. Thank you very much. Please, please hold your applause until the end.”

Nick Lachey, who has made appearances on several Live Halloween shows over the years, joined in an astronaut costume of his own. During his interview, the 47-year-old musician and Ripa joked about dressing up as Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries for the 2011 show — only to have the reality star file for divorce after 72 days of marriage as the credits rolled on the broadcast.

“No one saw it coming,” Seacrest quipped.

Ripa added, “We looked at each other like, ‘We caused that.’ … We have magic powers.”

During Friday’s broadcast, the hosts dressed up as characters from popular TV shows including Squid Game, The Queen’s Gambit, Ted Lasso and Bridgerton.

“KNOCK-A-DOODLE-DO! #LIVEHalloween #TedLasso #Bridgerton,” the American Idol host captioned a series of snaps from the show via Instagram.

Scroll through to see photos of Ripa and Seacrest’s 2021 costumes:

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This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Sarah Hearon