Ryan Seacrest Shares Update on Friendship With Kelly Ripa After Live! Departure (Exclusive)
Ryan Seacrest isn’t going anywhere.
The longtime American Idol host will return to emcee the singing competition reality series’ upcoming ninth season on ABC (season 24 overall), the network announced Sept. 9.
The news of Seacrest’s return comes two weeks after ABC revealed judges Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie will all be back next season to help find America’s next music superstar.
Underwood—who won season four in 2005—made her debut as a judge last season, while Richie and Bryan have been mainstays since 2018.
In between pulling double duty hosting Idol and Wheel of Fortune over the past year, Seacrest has also been dealing with personal struggles following a family health scare. Earlier this summer, the 50-year-old got candid about his father Gary Seacrest‘s prostate cancer battle and even revealed the 81-year-old contracted pneumonia while undergoing chemotherapy.
Recounting his sister Meredith Seacrest Leach calling him while he was on the Idol set working last year, he shared on his radio show in July, “She said, ‘Dad is in the ICU. How fast can you get here?'”