Ryan Seacrest Allegedly Starting To Worry ABC After American Idol, Live! Incidents

Ryan Seacrest eye droop during American Idol finale 2020

Live with Kelly and Ryan has had quite the month. First, Kelly Ripa revealed she’s been quarantining from an exotic location, which didn’t make people super happy given fans thought she’d been in New York. Now, rumors are swirling that American Idol and daytime star Ryan Seacrest is overdoing it and starting to worry parent network ABC.

Why is the parent network allegedly worried? It all surrounds Ryan Seacrest taking an unexpected day off. If you know anything about Seacrest, you should know this is a big deal. Ryan Seacrest has a popular radio show and he’s on daytime TV. He has myriad responsibilities and he’s such a hard worker in the business, there was even speculation his work schedule may have contributed to his break up with longtime girlfriend Shayna Taylor.

According to a Page Six report, Ryan Seacrest is so reliable that when he took an unexpected day off on Monday, there was allegedly “panic” at ABC that he wasn’t going to be there.

The news comes just a few days after Ryan Seacrest seemed to be behaving super oddly during the American Idol finale on parent network ABC. The moment was so notable that multiple people watching expressed concern he might actually be having a stroke. The daytime TV and reality competition host later blamed “exhaustion” for what happened, but still came back to work on Live with Kelly and Ryan – at least until his unexpected absence.

Look, the whole thing worked out fine. Kelly Ripa’s husband Mark Consuelos stepped in and was a perfectly delightful addition to Live with Kelly and Ryan in the episode, which featured David Spade and one of the “Working Heroes” segments the show has started doing. Even though it was a last minute thing, Consuelos is an actor and is basically the perfect fill-in for this sort of thing, although he certainly doesn’t have the same presence and amazing affability Ryan Seacrest has.

At the end of the day, Ryan Seacrest may be an entertainment staple, but even he does not have limitless energy and it’s generally a good idea to take a break when you are tired. Plus, if Seacrest is as “exhausted” as he previously admitted to being, now is the time for a break. The good news is that the report also indicates that Live with Kelly and Ryan is expected to take a hiatus this coming month, so all will hopefully end with no one worried about Seacrest looking as if he had suffered a stroke again.

Additionally, the actor seems to be trying to relax or at least make it very clear he’s trying to take care of himself, as he is doing things like planting strawberries so he can make protein shakes.

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Meanwhile, here’s hoping Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos can finally relax while still on vacation in the Caribbean instead of her having to secretly Zoom in to Live with Kelly and Ryan.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.