Ryan Seacrest is one busy guy. He does radio, television and produces things like Keeping Up With the Kardashians via his Ryan Seacrest Productions. He's everywhere, hosting American Idol and TV's Live with Kelly and Ryan. And that's before you even get to his work on KIIS-FM and for Disney.
The whole flack about his health started last May when he remote hosted the finale of American Idol. Some of the closeups of his face had fans in a panic.
No, no Ryan said. Everything's fine. Then the next day he was a no show for Live with Kelly and Ryan. The tabloids had a field day speculating on Seacrest's "mystery illness". No, no Ryan said again. I was just exhausted and decided to take a day off.
He even began posting robust, happy shots of himself to his Instagram account in a bid to squelch the rumors. So what is going on? Let's have a look and see if we can come up with an answer to the question of what is really going on with Ryan Seacrest's health.
The 'American Idol' Finale That Sparked A Tabloid Frenzy
Ryan Seacrest remote-hosted the finale of American Idol in May of 2020. And fans panicked. Why? Well, some of the shots of his face looked funny, in a bad way. At one point his speech seemed slurred, too.
OMG, fans said. It looks like he's had a stroke.
Then the day after the finale, he did not appear on Live with Kelly and Ryan. More panic.
His staff issued a statement that appeared in People, saying Ryan had not had a stroke. It went on: "Between Live with Kelly and Ryan, American Idol, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, and the Disney Family Singalong specials, he has been juggling three-four on-air jobs over the last few weeks, and he's in need of rest. So today he took a well deserved day off."
Enter that paragon of journalistic integrity (not) the National Enquirer. The tabloid solemnly declared that the pictures of Seacrest on the night of the American Idol finale clearly indicated he had had a stroke.
And they quoted one doctor (who hadn't ever treated Seacrest) as saying: “When I saw the picture of him with one eye sagging, I thought, this is Bell’s palsy or a mini-stroke. It’s highly likely Ryan has already suffered a type of stroke called a transient ischemic attack.”
Then when he was absent from Live with Kelly and Ryan, the National Enquirer found another doctor to "diagnose" an "incurable disease". There were whispers about something called myalgic encephalomyelitis (that's chronic fatigue syndrome in English). According to the tabloid, Ryan's colleagues and his girlfriend Shayna Taylor were freaking out because superman Ryan never, ever takes time off. Seems from the time the American Idol finale aired his friends and colleagues, including Kelly Ripa and his girlfriend Shayna, were worried sick about him.