Ryan Seacrest on What Makes Him and Kelly Ripa a Great Team: We've 'Been Friends for Two Decades'

Ryan Seacrest has been co-hosting Live with Kelly and Ryan with Kelly Ripa since 2017

Photo: ABC

Ryan Seacrest and Kelly Ripa are one dynamic duo.

The Live with Kelly and Ryan co-hosts spoke to PEOPLE exclusively about their show's After Oscars special, airing on Monday. During that discussion, the American Idol host, 47, also opened up about what has allowed the pair to become a great on-air team.

"Kelly and I have been friends for two decades," said Seacrest. "So we know each other way before — longer before we were on the air together."

Seacrest added, "When we look at each other and talk to each other, there's obviously a tremendous amount of trust and respect, but also we can read each other's mind. And I didn't know we could do that so well, but that's true every day."

Seacrest has been co-hosting Live with Ripa, 51, since 2017 and they have put on an annual After Oscars Show together that celebrates some of the biggest films of the year.

The show's opener pays homage to this as well.

For this year's opener, Ripa dove into Jessica Chastain's The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Lady Gaga's House of Gucci. Seacrest, on the other hand, tackled Andrew Garfield's Tick, Tick…BOOM! and Tom Holland's Spider-Man: No Way Home.

"I believe this year's special will result in Ryan Seacrest receiving an Oscar nomination for next year," Ripa jokingly told PEOPLE before continuing to rave about Seacrest. "His performance is really good. I just found out that he was playing Andrew Garfield in one of his performances, and I did not know that's who he was portraying. But now it makes sense."

Ripa added, "Watching Ryan Seacrest navigate a Spider-Man costume is something we should all just have access to 24/7."

Unlike Ripa, Seacrest does not boast an acting background. So the On Air with Ryan Seacrest host tends to "feel a lot of pressure" filming the segment each year.

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"I have to be honest with you. With Tick, Tick...BOOM!, it took a few takes before I could get the lyrics and the timing down as well as the breath control on it. To Kelly's point, I may have captured a moment," he said after praising Ripa's impression of Chastain's Tammy Faye. "Now, it's a lot to live up to working with Kelly Ripa, who is a professional actor and who has been doing this for so many years on Live. So I feel a lot of pressure each year to come in prepared."

This special episode of Live will feature guest host Maria Menounos interviewing stars on the red carpet. Meanwhile, Carson Kressley and Eva Chen will relive the night's most fashionable looks. It will also have the first interviews with some of this year's winners after they've accepted their award.

Leading up to Hollywood's biggest night, Friday's episode of Live will feature Academy Award winner Adrien Brody and reporter Sandy Kenyon. Several other stars will also appear in a video detailing their favorite Oscar memories.

Live with Kelly and Ryan's After Oscar Show airs Monday (check local listings).