Ryan Seacrest said that before becoming the longtime host of American Idol, he was first considered to be a judge for the same.
During his appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Friday, the executive producer of The Kardashians told Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the first season of American Idol in 2002 that then-producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick first heard him on the radio in Los Angeles when they were planning the show and
thought that I might fit the panel to be up there with whoever else was already on.
I guess Simon [Cowell] was already on board, and I don’t know who else at that point,
Ryan Seacrest added.
And I was like, ‘Well, wait a minute. I would love to audition to be the host.’ And so I auditioned eventually to be the host. And I got the job. So I’m happy to still have the job.
Since the show’s first season in 2002, when Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell were the judges, Ryan Seacrest has been the host for all 21 seasons and counting. Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie are the show’s most recent judges.
Kelly Clarkson wondered what it would be like to see the former co-host of Live with Kelly and Ryan as a judge. Hence, Ryan Seacrest said,
The problem is I’m like in auto-host mode all the time, so I don’t know that I’d be able to sit behind the desk and just give feedback. I’d want to do that, then toss to commercial. ‘Welcome back. How are you?’ … and that would be too much.
The Voice coach also asked him how American Idol has changed over time. The former host of E! News said that the current contestants have seen so many “success stories” that
they know that they can really be a big star. So now, when they’re 8, 9 years old, they tell me they start training for the audition. So when they’re of age to audition, they’ve rehearsed.
American Idol‘s season 21 is currently airing on Sunday and Monday nights on ABC.
