Kelly Ripa And ‘American Idol’ Weren’t The Reasons ABC Hired Ryan Seacrest, Source Dishes


Drama and speculations over Kelly Ripa’s new Live! co-host, Ryan Seacrest, never ends. A new report claims Seacrest was hired not just to be Ripa’s co-host or signing on with American Idol, but for other reasons.

Competition is stiff to book famous guests for morning television, and Ryan Seacrest has the clout. Kelly Ripa only had so much power, and Today is in the midst of changing things up with its own new addition: former Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly. Both Live! and Megyn Kelly’s 9 a.m. hour of Today will directly compete with each other.

According to the report, Ryan’s $73 million contract with iHeartRadio puts him in the unique position of offering A-list celebrities “double the bang for their buck to keep them away from his rival.”

According to Radar Online, Ryan is bent on destroying Megyn Kelly on Today. The peacock network hired Kelly for her star power and ability to pump ratings, but Seacrest may have a lot more pull than her when it comes to connections in the celebrity world.

A source tells the entertainment gossip site that famous stars have the opportunity for more exposure if they choose Live! over Today.

“Celebrity guests are going to be offered the chance to do his radio show after they appear on Live! That will make it almost impossible for Megyn to get the A-list bookings.”

According to the insider, Seacrest is already hard at work gathering a string of famous faces for Live! appearances.

“Ryan has been hitting the phones to his friends to get them on Live! rather than Today with Megyn.”

Achieving notable guest appearances on morning television is a cutthroat business. The source reveals that ABC and NBC are “going to war” over bookings for their shows. Additionally, it’s alleged that Ryan got the job because of Megyn Kelly, not Kelly Ripa.

“ABC are going to WAR with NBC over guest bookings. One of the main reasons he got the job was because his connections can destroy Megyn. Really, Ryan getting the job had more to do with Megyn Kelly than Kelly Ripa!”

If stars appear alongside Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest on Live! first, they will still appear on Today with Megyn Kelly if they want to. Of course, it’s the first chat that everyone in show business wants credit for.

Megyn begins anchoring the 9 a.m. segment of Today in June. While it’s possible she doesn’t have the star connections that Ryan has, she’s likely to have power in other areas of hard-hitting news that people care about. She’ll travel to Russia soon to interview the country’s president, Vladimir Putin.

A previous report by Radar Online claimed that ABC wanted to lock in Ryan Seacrest because they were banking on winning the bid to air American Idol in March of 2018. Fox jumped in at the last minute to offer a huge deal to the show’s owners, but ABC snagged it in the end. The network will make an announcement this week, but they haven’t officially gotten Seacrest to sign on as the host. All of the rumors point to Ryan being the host since he’s perceived as the AI franchise. If he becomes the show’s host, TMZ reports that he’ll be flying back-and-forth from L.A. to New York three times a week and taping Friday’s segment of Live! with Kelly on Thursdays.

It seems that Today could have quite a fight on its hands to grab the first interview from coveted guests. Will Kelly Ripa’s co-host steal A-list celebrities away from Megyn Kelly?

[Featured Image by Disney/ABC]

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