Ryan Seacrest Reveals the Goodbye Gift Kelly Ripa Gave Him Before Last Day at 'Live' (Exclusive)
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"It was so generous," Seacrest tells PEOPLE exclusively of the gift, which he "can't wait to get out and use"
Kelly Ripa sent Ryan Seacrest off in style!
Before Seacrest's final appearance as co-host on Live with Kelly and Ryan, Ripa presented her longtime friend and colleague with a custom going-away gift perfect for any retiree.
"She gave me something special," Seacrest, 48, tells PEOPLE exclusively of the gift, which also came from Mark Consuelos, Ripa's husband and Seacrest's Live co-host replacement. "I'm starting to get sporty now. I'm into tennis, I'm into golf — meaning I've gotten some equipment. Kelly has heard and seen the photo evidence of me wanting to get into golf. So she and Mark purchased me the most beautiful, elegant, designer golf bag that now I have."
The bag, which Seacrest affectionally says "looks like a large purse," is also "perfect" for his newly acquired golf clubs.
"I can't wait to get out and use it," says Seacrest, who will be moving back to Los Angeles from New York, where he previous split his time between Live and American Idol. "It was so generous of them."
That's not all Ripa and Consuelos, both 52, gifted Seacrest. In fact, Kelly chimes in: "The best part were your custom-made balls."
"Oh yes," says Seacrest. "She and Mark gave me these beautiful custom-made golf balls with my face on them and it says on the ball, 'Ryan's Balls.'
Ripa says, "Because fundamentally, inside of me, is a 12-year-old boy. I just found that very funny."
Related:Ryan Seacrest's Girlfriend Aubrey Paige Makes Rare Appearance on Live for His Final Show as Co-Host
News of Seacrest's departure first dropped in February, when he announced on Live he would be leaving the series after six seasons.
Friday's farewell show was an emotional and heartfelt one, with Ripa sharing her appreciation for Ryan in a touching speech.
"For many years, Ryan's ability to be the person featuring the talents of other people has been part of his job. But on our show, I feel like you got to show off your immeasurable talents to the world," she said. "I always jokingly referred to you an onion with all of these layers. but really, what you are is a blooming onion; you are layers upon layers of goodness, of kind, of charm ... your generosity is unmatched."
"I am a very lucky man," he responded. "I want you all to know, it's not lost on me how fortunate I am. ... I've spent my entire career talking. Talking on the radio, talking on television. Words are my bread and butter, but today it's hard to put into words how deeply I've appreciated being here and being with you."
The lovefest carried on after the cameras went down, too, with Seacrest telling PEOPLE about how much Ripa's friendship has meant to him over the years. "She's family to me," he says. "There's no one better in the business, and it's going to be strange on not seeing her every day."
"This place is remarkable," he adds. "I'm going to miss coming into this studio to see the people who have worked here for so long. It is about the people here; it's a family at Live and they adopted me for a little while and I'm grateful for that. I know come Monday, I will feel something not having this routine."
"You're going to wake up and feel panicy that you forgot something," Ripa says. "That's what's going to happen. Because don't you do that on the first day of vacation. You're like, 'Oh my God, I overslept!' And then you're like, 'Wait, no, I didn't oversleep. This is vacation.' It'll be like that for a couple of days.' "
Reflecting back on their final moments on the show, Ripa and Seacrest both noted how they're still processing their emotions.
"Before we went out, I turned to him and said, 'This sucks,'" Ripa recalls to PEOPLE. "And then he started tearing up and then I got mad at him for tearing up — but it was really a lot harder than I thought it would be. You know, none of this really sunk in until last night, when we had a dinner with the Live staff and Ryan gave a speech. That's when I started feeling like, 'Oh no. This is happening.' The reality set in. That's when it started getting real."
"Oh see, I'm only starting to feel now my body," he says. "I'm starting to feel back in my body. I'm actually feeling a little pain in my back because it was intense. Just cause I've been carrying it with m. But I'm also excited for what's coming."
And no matter what, Ripa says, Seacrest will always be a part of Live. "He's forever adopted," she shares. "He's forever a New Yorker and forever a Live co-host, whether he likes it or not."
He certainly has the swag to prove it. "Oh, I'm taking some mugs with me," says Seacrest. "There's actually a little basement here, it's where I did the radio show. And next to the radio show is a cage with mugs and koozies and T-shirts and baby clothes with the show's logo on it. So I got a couple of those to take back with me."
"They'll go nice with the golf balls," Ripa jokes.
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