Ryan Seacrest Had to Change His Underwear During ‘American Idol’ Finale After Wardrobe Malfunction

Ryan Seacrest was forced to change his underwear during the American Idol season finale on Sunday when his stylist noticed that his outfit left little to the imagination. Seacrest shared the behind-the-scenes story on Monday morning during Live with Kelly and Ryan, and some fans hadn’t even noticed. The 47-year-old joked: “America voted and said there was anatomy in the shot.”

Seacrest said that the live 3-hour finale episode was well underway when his stylist, Miles Siggins informed him of the issue. He said: “We go to commercial and [Siggins] says, ‘Can I tell you something? We need to change your underwear.’ I said, ‘What do you mean we need to change my underwear?’ …There was just a panic about it, and we changed it.” Seacrest said that the wardrobe malfunction was further complicated by the fact that he didn’t have an extra pair of underwear on set. Once again, Siggins came to the rescue, saying: “Don’t worry, I got mine.”

“He’s English, so he has shorter, tighter ones. They were tight, elastic underwear,” Seacrest added. “It was in the middle of a live show! We go backstage during the commercial and find a little corner and I’m literally taking off my pants, off my underwear, and putting his on. It was a first for me for a live show. Anything for [American Idol]. It’s a family show. Thank you Miles!”

Seacrest and his co-host had a good laugh about the incident, but Kelly Ripa said that she would have handled it very differently. She said that she would not have agreed to put on another person’s underwear, saying: “No, no, no. Change the camera shot! Crotch up! I would have said, ‘You get that camera and put it from here up. I’m not wearing Miles’ panties!”

Luckily for Seacrest, he wasn’t the center of attention for most of Sunday night’s episode of American Idol. The competition show just wrapped up its 20th season — its 5th since it was rebooted on ABC — and crowned its newest winner: Noah Thompson. He and the runners-up, Leah Marlene and HunterGirl each sang three songs. In between, the show featured a staggering 15 guest performances, including appearances by Flo Rida, Earth, Wind & Fire, Sara Bareilles, Katy Perry, Thomas Rhet, Michael Bublé, Melissa Etheridge, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. You can stream the finale and the rest of the season now on Hulu.