Ryan Seacrest was back on the job on Tuesday morning after taking a day off from hosting duties on Live With Kelly And Ryan. He presumably returned to his "normal" good health following some bizarre moments during the American Idol Season 18 finale that were circulated by fans online who suspected that Seacrest behavior meant he was having a stroke. And that incident was apparently something which Seacrest did not want to specifically address during his television return.
Seacrest did mention his absence early on in his first Live episode back with Kelly Ripa after American Idol's finale, but the host did not feed into any speculation regarding his health. The co-host echoed his publicist's controversy-dampening words from the day prior, pinning his time off on his entertainment-centric work life getting the better of him.
I want to thank Mark [Consuelos] for filling in yesterday. He’s so good at it! Also, all the very kind well-wishes for my exhaustion, working around the clock.
Naturally, Ryan Seacrest had to also give a kind shout out to guest co-host and Riverdale star Mark Consuelos, who is a natural substitution given his marriage to Kelly Ripa. But he rather abruptly avoids mentioning American Idol's finale in that context altogether, which might have been simply to avoid adding any fuel to the fire.
It's not hard to believe Ryan Seacrest has suffered from exhaustion in recent weeks, despite the fact that he's been in quarantine. Seacrest was juggling American Idol's remote episodes, Live With Kelly And Ryan, two installments of Disney Family Singalong, and that was all on top of his radio show. Many others in Hollywood would love to have been that busy. Given he was already one of the busiest people in showbiz prior to quarantining, who can argue that he didn't deserve at least one day off after such a busy few weeks?
Still, the fact that Ryan Seacrest didn't even lightly approach the widespread speculation regarding his health does feel the tiniest bit suspicious, given how big of a talking point it was on the Internet after American Idol finished airing. At one point late in the broadcast, Seacrest was suddenly speaking with a slur, with one eye slightly lowered, and his delivery felt stuttered at times, though that might have been time-delays from the filming. In any case, the moment was picked up by so many people that it almost overshadowed the reveal of the winner of Season 18, Just Sam.
With Just Sam appearing on Live With Kelly And Ryan on the day that Seacrest took off, it felt obvious there were plans for him to originally be a part of the episode. As mentioned earlier, Kelly Ripa's husband and actor Mark Consuelos filled in, so the interview went on without a hitch. While Ryan Seacrest may have not been up to the task of interviewing the day prior, he certainly looked to be his normal self during his Tuesday return, and was back on his game as one of the best media personalities in the business.
Just look at the video below, which shows a night-and-day difference from the American Idol clip, and it's possibly all the evidence needed to prove whatever Ryan Seacrest was going through was indeed fixable with merely a day off. The host looked recharged, and ready to do however many specials and television shows the world is ready to throw at him in the near future.
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