Ryan Seacrest revealed that he was initially considered a judge american idol before becoming the longtime host of the singing competition show.
During his appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show Friday, The Kardashians executive producer told Clarkson, who won the first season of american idol in 2002, that then-producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick originally heard him on the radio in Los Angeles when they were planning the show and “thought maybe I’d fit on the panel to be there with whoever was already there .”
“I think Simon (Cowell) was already on board, and I don’t know who else was at the time,” he added. “And I was like, ‘Well, wait a minute. I would love to audition to be the presenter.’ And so I ended up auditioning to be the host. And I got the job. So I’m glad I still have the job.”
After signing on as host when the show began in 2002, Seacrest has remained the host for 21 seasons, from the first three judges, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Cowell, to the last, Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie . .
Though Clarkson wondered what it would be like to see the first one Live with Kelly and Ryan Seacrest, co-host as judge, said, “The problem is I’m in auto-host mode all the time, so I don’t know if I could sit behind the desk and just give feedback. I’d like to do that and then throw it at commercials. ‘Welcome back. How are you?’ … and that would be too much.”
The voice coach also asked him how american idol has changed over the years. The former E! News host explained that current contestants have seen so many “success stories” that “they know they can be a really big star. So now when they are 8, 9 years old they tell me they are going to train for the audition. So if they are old enough to audition, they have rehearsed.”
Season 21 of american idol currently airs Sunday and Monday nights on ABC.
