Kelly Ripa calls Anderson Cooper her 'Man Crush Monday' as he returns to cohost 'Live!'

Kelly Ripa's man crush Monday pick just happens to be her Live! guest co-host.

Anderson Cooper joined his friend on the daytime talk show, and Ripa shared her excitement on Instagram. "It's #mcm and everyone's favorite man crush is in da house @andersoncooper (sometimes we hold hands)," she captioned a red carpet photo of her and Cooper holding hands.

WATCH: Kelly Ripa Says She Got Depressed After Seeing Old Photos of Herself

"So much fun today on @LiveKelly with @KellyRipa!" Cooper tweeted after the show.

The duo's pal Andy Cohen was also excited to see the CNN journalist back co-hosting the ABC program. "Watching @KellyRipa and @andersoncooper before heading into @RadioAndySXM. Good morning!" he tweeted.

When Cooper and Ripa appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Cohen, she admitted that Cooper was "the one that got away" when talking about him being her permanent co-host. "Anderson re-signed with CNN, but he would have been your number one pick, right Kelly?" Cohen asked.

WATCH: Kelly Ripa Says 'Bad Botox' Experience Left Her Unable to Smile for 6 Months

"He's my life. He really is," Ripa replied. "He's the one that got away and keeps getting away and gets away all the time."

Cooper's return to Live! comes after he covered President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday and the Women's March in Washington D.C. The two talked about the eventful weekend before bringing out their guests, Priyanka Chopra and Jimmy Smits.

WATCH: Kelly Ripa Gives Update on 'Live!' Co-Host Search, Judges Potential Sidekicks

Chopra spoke about her injury on the Quantico set that sent her to the hospital. "That's what happens when you get over-confident," she joked. "I got over-confident, slipped and had a concussion. I wish I had a better story to tell where I would be like I was doing these stunts and somebody hit me in the jaw but I slipped on rainy day."

The 34-year-old actress added, "It was such an anti-glamorous way of getting a concussion."

WATCH: Kelly Ripa and Anderson Cooper Adorably Perform Grease Dance While Backstage at Live!

While Ripa and Cooper have great chemistry, ET confirmed in October that the newsman was out of the running to co-host Live!According to a source close tothe show, Cooper was Ripa's "first choice" to co-host with her, but "he was never a frontrunner for executives who oversee the show."

Another source at Live! told ET that Cooper hadn't been up for the job in months.