Longtime “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest broke down in tears during his radio show on July 21, 2025, revealing publicly for the first time that his 80-year-old dad Gary Seacrest has been bravely battling prostate cancer.
On his nationally syndicated show, “On Air With Ryan Seacrest,” the 50-year-old star said, “I haven’t shared this on the air because it has been very private for me and my family, as it was something that was extremely hard to see with my father.”
“I have a very close relationship with my father and my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer years ago,” Seacrest told his listeners, with co-hosts Sisanie and Tanya Rad listening intently as he described how treatment has not worked well for his dad, who landed in the ICU while he was hosting the latest season of “American Idol.”
Ryan Seacrest Says He Flew Immediately to His Dad’s Bedside After Live ‘American Idol’ Episode
During his July 21 show, Seacrest revealed that treatment for his dad’s cancer didn’t work as expected, and that he landed in the ICU while his son was hosting the latest season of “American Idol,” which wrapped in mid-May.
“(The cancer) didn’t get better, it got worse and spread,” Seacrest said. “And when this happens to somebody or someone really close to you that you love, this is a hard thing to see because the treatments that are commonly recommended can be barbaric to the system. They can cause so much damage to your body in other ways.”
“My father went and started his chemotherapy,” Seacrest continued, “and this is hard and you know people who have been through it. It didn’t go well for him. He caught pneumonia. I was on an ‘American Idol’ show live during last season and my sister called me and she said, ‘Dad is in the ICU and how fast can you get here?'”
Seacrest then added, “Forgive me, this is really … I’ve never spoken about this. I haven’t even thought about how to say this. I finished the show, we were almost done. I couldn’t even, I didn’t even remember what I was saying while I was on the show. I said ‘good night’ and I went to the airport immediately and got on a flight to Atlanta overnight.”
When Seacrest arrived at his dad’s bedside the next morning, he said on his July 21 show, doctors congregated in the hospital room to “evaluate what happened overnight.”
“The conversation they were having with him about an emergency surgery was a life or death conversation,” Seacrest recalled. “And I’ve never seen my strong, very smart father with the look on his face that he had and the concern, and looking at me to help guide what decisions should be made in this moment.”
The decision, Seacrest said, was to not move ahead with surgery, which he was relieved about due to the potential complications. He said he stayed in Atlanta, broadcasting his radio show from there, while supporting his family.
Ryan Seacrest Cried Over Hearing His Dad Had Gone Outside After 4 Months at Home
Although his dad eventually was released from the ICU and the hospital, Seacrest said that he’s been extremely weak and on oxygen, with full-time care in Seacrest’s parents’ Atlanta home.
“He didn’t leave his seat or hospital or home for four and a half months,” Seacrest told his co-hosts. “I went back and forth over the weekends. You guys know this. And my dad, his birthday is in a few days. And I asked him, first of all, to see him getting stronger, I was just so happy. And I asked him, ‘What would you like for your birthday?’ And of course, he said, ‘I just want to get out of this chair. I just want to leave this house.'”
“And so last night, I got the most powerful –” Seacrest said, getting choked up. “The most powerful, good, happy picture of my dad and my mother who was with him.”
Crying, Seacrest said, “Uh, they went to um to a a beach to sit outside. They just wanted to look at the water. They can’t do much. But I saw him smile. I saw my mom smile. I’m embarrassed.”
Seacrest’s co-hosts told him it was okay, and to not be embarrassed about his show of emotion.
“So anyway,” he continued, “I watched them over the weekend send photos of smiling and happiness and being together. They’ve been married for over 55 years. And they’ve got each other. And his pneumonia is gone, but his cancer is not. And so we have to go back into another treatment and fight this cancer. And it is just, it’s difficult.”
Comments
Ryan Seacrest Breaks Down On-Air, Revealing Dad’s Brave Cancer Battle