Pennsylvania high school teacher Richard Curtis might be ditching his day job.
Curtis was the winner of Live! With Kelly's co-host search and beat out thousands of entrants for a chance to sit next to Kelly Ripa on last Friday's episode. The 30-year-old educator was such a hit as a guest co-host that the daytime talk show announced on Thursday that they have invited him back.
A source at Live! tells ET that the executives "really" like Curtis, and especially "love that he is a guy who came out of nowhere and really charmed everyone."
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The father of two will guest co-host for a second time on Monday, Nov. 7, and the source at Live! says "he's definitely in the running" to replace Michael Strahan as Ripa's permanent sidekick.
On Friday's show, Ripa and Curtis joked that if he could land the wildly popular flip bottle trick on the first try that he would get the job. While he didn't succeed on his initial attempt, he did land the trick later on in the show. Yelling to Live! executive producer Michael Gelman, Ripa exclaimed, "Get the contract!"
Curtis added, "Gelman, I have a pen, I need the contract ASAP!"
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While Curtis was clearly a natural on the show, the source tells ET that the higher-ups "are being cautious because he's unproven."
"He doesn't have the background of a Jerry O'Connell or Fred Savage," the source adds. "Still, they really like him and are eager to see more from him. They love that he could go from being a school teacher to a daytime talk show host. They think that's a really cool story."
O'Connell will be guest co-hosting Live! on Monday's Halloween episode, and while the show is thought to be naming Strahan's successor next month, "there is no official timeline" as to when the decision will be made.
"The reality is the mystique of who could get the chair is more appealing than any of the candidates right now," says the source.
