Buzz: Seth Meyers is favorite for Regis job

Buzz: Seth Meyers is favorite for Regis job

Nick Lachey sang for the job, telling Kelly Ripa he'd "sign" a contract "tomorrow. That was back in May. And still, no one has landed the permanent co-host gig on Live! with Kelly.

Since November, Ripa has ushered in possible Regis Philbin replacements, way past the "early in 2012" time frame exec producer Michael Gelman initially gave for naming a new co-host.

Now, there's buzz the race is narrowing. Anyone who watches regularly know s that several stars have done repeat stints including Michael Strahan, Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Groban, Jerry O'Connell, Carrie Ann Inaba and Kelly's hubby, Mark Consuelos.

Next week, Seth Meyers fills in all week, and Showbiz411's Roger Friedman says the Saturday Night Live head writer/Weekend Update star is a front-runner for the job, which at this point will likely be official when a new season kicks off in September. Friedman says Groban, who takes the co-host seat July 16, 17 and 18, and Strahan are the top three candidates.

(You'd think Anderson Cooper would be in the mix - Ripa loves him - but he's committed to this syndicated talk show for another year.)

A show spokesperson tells Lifeline Live there will be " no comment" about the co-host speculation. And one thing we know for sure: Kelly has said it won't be her husband. She says they "couldn't stay married" and still do the show.