Through his representative, the 'Live with Kelly and Ryan' co-host assures worried fans that he did not suffer 'any kind of stroke' while hosting the season 18 finale on Sunday night, May 17.
- May 19, 2020
AceShowbiz - All is well with Ryan Seacrest. The "American Idol" host sparked concerns among fans about his well-being after he appeared to slightly slur his words and his right eye seemed to be larger than his left during the Sunday night, May 17 broadcast of Season 18 finale, but he was quick to assure that he was only in need of rest.
On Monday, May 18, a representative for the 45-year-old issued a statement denying that he suffered from stroke. "Ryan did not have any kind of stroke last night," his rep said in a statement to the press. "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."
"Between 'Live with Kelly and Ryan', 'American Idol', 'On Air with Ryan Seacrest', and the 'Disney Family Singalong' specials, he has been juggling three to four on-air jobs over the last few weeks and he's in need of rest," his rep went on to explain. On the reason why he was absent from his co-hosting duty on the Monday episode of "Live", the rep added, "So today he took a well-deserved day off."
The Sunday night finale of "American Idol" unveiled 21-year-old Samantha "Just Sam" Diaz as the winner. Seacrest was able to congratulate the New York subway singer who was on FaceTime with her grandmother at time of the announcement. "Sam, congratulations," he said remotely from his home. "Yeah, you did it!"
The coronavirus pandemic has forced many TV productions to resort to virtual broadcasting. In early May, Seacrest shared his thought on the challenges presented by the situation. "We put the show together earlier in the week because there are so many factors to it," the TV personality admitted to PEOPLE.
"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," he went on explaining.
While Seacrest took time off from "Live with Kelly and Ryan" on Monday, he is expected to make a return sometime this week. He had Mark Consuelos, the husband of co-host Kelly Ripa, filling in for him for the Monday episode.
