The World News Tonight anchor was there for his close friend Kelly Ripa

David Muir visits The Empire State Building to celebrate the 40th season of ABC's "20/20" at The Empire State Building on September 29, 2017 in New York City

The night of Tuesday, July 29, David Muir introduced his good friends and LIVE with Kelly and Mark co-anchors Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on World News Tonight.

He interviewed the longtime couple and daytime hosts about their new ESPN docuseries Running with the Wolves, which chronicles their journey buying ownership stake in the Italian football team Campobasso FC and going on a transformation with not just the team, but the town it represents.

The morning of Wednesday, July 30, though, David ended up jumping ship to a different kind of show with Kelly, as he joined her as the guest co-host of LIVE in Mark’s absence.

david muir kelly ripa© Getty Images
David stepped in for his close friend on a different ABC series

The ABC News anchor, 51, and the All My Children alum, 54, stepped out onto the familiar LIVE soundstage together to the roaring studio crowd, with the former abandoning his usual suit for a muscle tee and slacks.

Kelly introduced him to the audience as “Captain Handsome,” and David, ever the gentleman, felt the need to start off the hour with an apology.

“Drink it all in, this is all for you,” the mom-of-three quipped, with the news anchor telling the crowd: “I have to say…I’m sorry, you came to see Mark Consuelos. He’ll be back soon,” with Kelly retorting: “They’ll survive, they’ll survive today.”

David Muir and Kelly Ripa pose for a photo on the set of LIVE with Kelly and Mark on Wednesday, July 30© Instagram
David hosted LIVE on July 30 with Kelly Ripa

She then teased him about not being able to see him “in the building without going ‘Tonight’,” imitating his usual trademark on-air cadence for his show, which David revealed was something both she and Mark did every time they saw him.

They looked back on the couple’s appearance on World News Tonight the previous evening, and Kelly added: “It was so exciting for me that I sent it to my dad. Because we have our new show on ESPN.”

“But nothing I do counts…until it’s mentioned on World News Tonight,” she joked. “And then my dad goes, ‘I’m gonna have to tune into that show.’”

Kelly and Mark pose red carpet© Getty Images
Kelly and Mark documented their journey with the Italian football team Campobasso FC

The pair have been close friends for years, which extends to their families as well, often vacationing and spending weekends off together. Kelly has often recollected the story of her first meeting with David, which happened after she saw one of his broadcasts.

“I remember when I first saw David Muir file a report for World News Tonight. I didn’t know him at all,” she recalled on a previous episode of LIVE, back when she hosted with Ryan Seacrest.

“I immediately cracked into the ABC News system email – which you’re not supposed to use unless it’s for news,” she confessed. “And I wrote, ‘Dude. You looked amazing tonight. Don’t know what was going on. Looked kinda dangerous where you are. But just wanted to let you know that you looked amazing. I had the volume down.’”

David attended the ESPN event solo smiling © Getty Images
He was also present at the premiere of “Running with the Wolves”

Last month, when the news anchor was a guest on LIVE, Kelly joked with the studio audience: “We have unfettered access to David in this building. Sometimes we just go up and stare at him and he doesn’t even know we’re there.”

David quipped that “there are terrifying, gigantic images of all of us in this building,” with Mark adding that he was particularly fond of the enlarged shot of him riding in a helicopter.