Ryan Seacrest Fights Back Tears as He Opens up About Father’s Cancer

Ryan Seacrest couldn’t help but get emotional as he revealed that his father, Gary Seacrest, has been struggling with a prostate cancer diagnosis.

The American Idol host, 50, revealed in Monday’s broadcast of On Air with Ryan Seacrest that the cancer that his father thought was no longer detectable back in 2021 “got worse” and spread.

“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,” Ryan shared. “They can cause so much damage to your body in other ways.”

Gary, who turns 81 Sunday, contracted pneumonia while undergoing chemotherapy, Ryan revealed, which led to a panicked call from his sister during Idol‘s live shows last season: “Dad is in the ICU, and how fast can you get here?”

Ryan somehow finished the episode of Idol, although he admits he “didn’t even remember what I was saying,” before jetting off to Atlanta to see his father.

“The night that I got there, the conversation they were having with him about an emergency surgery was a life or death conversation,” Ryan 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.”

Gary ultimately decided not to move forward with the surgery, and Ryan stayed with his father as he recovered while broadcasting his radio shows him his hotel room.

“When you see a parent suffering and when you see them going through this and you don’t understand it yourself, you’re just listening to all the different doctors and trying to make sense of what they’re trying to suggest and do,” he recalled. “I didn’t want to miss trying to understand who these people were that were taking care of my father.”

Gary was in bad condition at the time, with Ryan recalling, “He could not get up to sit. He could not eat. He could not drink water. He could not go to the bathroom. Weeks go by in ICU and finally he began to get some strength back.”

The Wheel of Fortune host, who revealed he’s been flying back and forth between Los Angeles and Atlanta every weekend now to visit his father, went on to praise the “angels” on his father’s nursing team who cared for Gary until he was cleared to go home earlier this month.

Gary is still receiving full-time care at home and has struggled to get out of his chair for nearly five months. Ryan grew emotional as he revealed that all his father asked for ahead of his birthday was to get out of his chair and leave the house.

“[Last night], I got the most powerful, good, happy picture from my dad and my mother, who was with him,” Ryan said after taking a moment to collect himself. “They went to a beach to sit outside. They just went to look at the water. They can’t do much, but I saw him smile. I saw my mom smile.”

“I’m embarrassed,” Ryan admitted of his emotional moment. “I watched them over the weekend send photos of smiling and happiness, and being together. They’ve been married for over 55 years. They’ve got each other and the pneumonia is gone, but his cancer is not.”

He continued, “Cancer affects every one of us in some way, and it. And it sucks. And the treatments suck … treatments are tough. But I know he’s going to get through this.”