The Reason Fans Are Worried About Ryan Seacrest's Health

Like many popular TV shows, American Idol transitioned to an at-home broadcast for its final episodes of Season 18. Health remains top of mind in an era ravaged by the coronavirus, and fans of host Ryan Seacrest took to Twitter to express concern for the icon's well being when he appeared unwell during the show's finale on May 17, 2020. According to viewers, Seacrest appeared to slur his speech as he broadcast from his home in Los Angeles. His posture also seemed slouched, and his right eye was halfway closed, which sparked rumors that Seacrest may have suffered a stroke (per Entertainment Tonight).

Fans expressed growing concern when Seacrest was also noticeably absent from his Live with Kelly and Ryan gig the following morning, but Seacrest's rep told People the entertainer was simply taking "a well-deserved day off."

"Ryan did not have any kind of stroke last night. Like many people right now, Ryan is adjusting to the new normal and finding work-home balance, with the added stress of having to put on live shows from home," his rep said. "Between Live With Kelly and Ryan, American Idol, On Air With Ryan Seacrest, and the Disney Family Singalong, he has been juggling three to four on-air jobs over the last few weeks and he's in need of rest."

Life might have slowed down for many since the pandemic, but for Seacrest, it's always full-speed ahead!

Although Ryan Seacrest was missing during Live with Kelly and Ryan's at-home broadcast on May 18, 2020, he returned the following day to thank co-host Kelly Ripa's husband, Mark Consuelos, for taking his place. "I want to thank Mark for filling in yesterday," Seacrest said (per Page Six). "He's so good at it, also, all the very kind well-wishes for my exhaustion, working around the clock."

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Seacrest travelled back and forth to satisfy his bi-coastal duties, but even though he must now remain stationary in the physical sense, Seacrest is still on the move when it comes to his responsibilities. He completed the American Idol season from behind the original judges' desk and, as he told People, he's had to adjust to the limitations of the show's part-live, part-taped hybrid approach.

"We put the show together earlier in the week because there are so many factors to it," he said. "Every once in a while we have to be careful not to step on each other while we're talking because there's that delay that we've all experienced talking to our families at home on different Zooms and things like that." 

That sounds tricky, and we get it. We're all in this together and, quite frankly, we're exhausted, too!

Ryan Seacrest wears many hats on any given day. He once told The Wrap that "for some reason I thrive on fatigue and I say 'Yes' to everything that's offered to me." His current commitments certainly speak to this truth. As Seacrest told Billboard, "I'm 100% better with a little bit of controlled chaos. I just know if I have three things to do, or nine things to do, I'm just better at them if I have nine." 

During an interview with GQ, Seacrest also admitted that he's "completely impatient." In his words, "It's one of the reasons I manage to get stuff done all the time ... I haven't had a lunch meeting in 10 years. I never stop for lunch or waste time traveling to a lunch meeting."

In fact, Seacrest's ambition reaches all the way back to his high school days. "I knew I could control one thing, and that is my time and my hours and my effort and my efficiency," he told Oprah.com. "I would get up and go to high school. After high school, I would play sports — not great at them — but I would play sports, and then I would go to a radio station and intern until midnight at night and then get up and do it again." 

At that pace, it's no wonder this guy finally needed a day off!

Despite Ryan Seacrest's svelte frame, the American Idol host wasn't always fit and slender. In fact, as he told Men's Journal, he was a "chubby kid" in high school. "I do remember that feeling of growing up and being a little bit overweight," he recalled. "I also remember at times being teased about it and because of that it's still in my brain." Those memories drive Seacrest "to stay fit as an adult."

So how does someone as busy as Seacrest maintain an effective fitness regimen? He treats workouts like they're meetings, of course! "I make a deliberate plan to fit in a workout each day of the week within my schedule," he explained. "I'm adamant about exercising during the week to keep up with the different moving parts. I'm most productive when I have a chance to exercise during the day."

Seacrest admitted that it's not always easy to maintain this commitment, but he advised fans to focus on striking a balance between the emotional and the physical. "It's tough, it's not easy to do, but I do think we strive for balance in our lives," he said. "That's balancing your career, balancing your diet, and balancing your family. That would be my advice, because it's what I try to focus on — but even I don't always achieve it." 

In 2019, Men's Health caught up with Ryan Seacrest behind the scenes of Live with Kelly and Ryan to explore what's in his fridge backstage. Writer Josh St. Clair discovered a selection of bottled water, raw vegetables, vegetable wraps, and almonds, but wrote that the host "doesn't always chow down like a forest creature." In fact, Seacrest reportedly enjoys dairy and fine cheeses too. "If it's stinky," Seacrest said, "if it smells like dirty feet and makes you sweat when you eat it, I like it."

Seacrest also divulged that when he gets the 2 a.m. munchies — which borders on breakfast time when you consider his typical schedule — he takes two spoons and double fists scoops of almond butter and a natural fruit spread. "It's kind of like peanut butter and jelly without the bread," Seacrest said.

Seacrest has quipped that his workout routine revolves around the fact that he wants to "look stronger and larger than a 13-year-old kid," but in recent years, the showman has also discovered the secret to good mental health. "I've discovered this thing that I didn't do for the first 40 years of my life," he said. "It's called 'sleep.' I've just discovered it, and I'm getting better at it." 

We certainly hope he continues to schedule some much-deserved rest!