Ryan Seacrest: Friends Thought He Was Gay, Married Or Having A Baby Instead Of ‘Live With Kelly & Ryan’ Host

As seen in the below video, Ryan Seacrest joked that his friends had all sorts of guesses about Ryan’s surprise news, but none of those guesses included them thinking that Seacrest would join Kelly Ripa as co-host of Live with Kelly & Ryan. Instead, the friends who have known Seacrest for at least six years, said Ryan, guessed that Seacrest was gay and coming out of the closet. Alternatively, they guessed that Ryan was going to announce to them that he was engaged and planning to get married. Other friends guessed that Seacrest was about to have a baby. However, as Ryan told Ripa, they were all wrong. For her part, Kelly told Seacrest that the set of Live with Kelly & Ryan was a safe space to do all three: either come out of the closet as gay, announce that Ryan was getting married, or announce that Seacrest was preparing to be a father and have a baby.

According to ABC News, the 46-year-old Ripa introduced Seacrest on Monday, the same day that Kelly celebrated her 21st wedding anniversary.

With Ryan mentioning that his good friends thought that he might have been coming out of the closet and announcing to the world that Seacrest was gay instead of announcing his new co-hosting gig with Ripa, it isn’t the first assumption being made about Seacrest’s sexuality. When searching for Ryan on Google, the search engine suggests that some of the most popular terms being searched for surrounding Ryan’s name including those folks searching for Seacrest’s wife, his net worth and more.

The issue of Seacrest being gay or not has come up in the past, as reported by Today, when a photo of Teri Hatcher and Ryan kissing on the beach involved speculation over whether or not Seacrest set up the photo opportunity by contacting the media ahead of time. Teri was asked if she thought the paparazzi were tipped off before the kiss, and Hatcher said she had no idea.

However, as noted by the publications, others wondered aloud if someone on Ryan’s team set up the photo op. Teri said she wouldn’t accuse anyone of anything, and Seacrest said he didn’t have anything to do with the photos, but only one hour after their date, Ryan called Teri and broke up with her.

Ryan Seacrest will join "Live" as Kelly Ripa's new co-host, sources tell CNN https://t.co/W3nRTbHHJr pic.twitter.com/uVc0te6bnC

— CNN (@CNN) May 1, 2017

The photos of Ryan and Teri can be seen in the below tweet, with the pics from 11 years ago of Seacrest and Hatcher kissing still circulating on social media and being compared to other couples.

Apparently, there’s plenty of interest in Seacrest’s love life, with Ryan’s name alone getting up to one million searches per month, according to Google’s Keyword Planner tool. Terms like “Ryan Seacrest wife” receive up to 10,000 searches per month, along with “Ryan Seacrest girlfriend: and “Seacrest dating” and “Ryan Seacrest married” (or “engaged” or “partner”) getting thousands of more searches per month.

Ryan is being welcomed with open arms to Ripa’s show, or heavy criticism, with Seacrest getting comments like those below on social media.

“I’m surprised @RyanSeacrest took that #LiveKellyCohost job. He’s way bigger and more famous than she is.”

“How many jobs does Ryan Seacrest have? Blank stare.”

“@KellyRipa should have kept it her show with the guest co-hosts. It was working for her. We’ve overdosed on @RyanSeacrest.”

“Is there anything @RyanSeacrest can’t do?”

“Fan of the show for 20 yrs. So happy you are a part of the show! Live with Kelly & Ryan sounds and will be GREAT!”

Seacrest dated Julianne Hough for two years before they split, and has a girlfriend named Shayna Taylor, as reported by Heavy.

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]