Ryan Seacrest Shared a Secret Video From His First Day on Live
It’s hard to believe it’s been an entire year since Ryan Seacrest became the second name on the now-eponymous Live with Kelly and Ryan. For his one-year anniversary working alongside friend and cohost Kelly Ripa, the perpetually busy host just shared a never-before-seen video of his first day on the job. And wowza, was the gig shrouded in secrecy when Seacrest first came on board.
The comical throwback video, posted to Instagram yesterday, shows Seacrest behind the scenes of his inaugural day on the job — like, way behind the scenes.
“Shh! I think it’s still a secret,” he starts in the short video. “I’m on my way to Day 1 — see, you can tell, New York City — to Day 1 of LWK and R.” At this point, the camera fades to black. When video returns, Seacrest is literally crammed uncomfortably in the floorboard of his town car.
“I’m just following instructions. Someone told me to duck. Still trying to hide the secret,” he explained before joking, “When can I come up for air? I’m not this limber.” According to Seacrest, he was in the underbelly of ABC, “going deep into the Earth’s core, subterranean, to work [his] way back up and on the air.”
So, yeah, a new Live cohost is basically treated with the same top-secret shenanigans as, like, a Marvel movie. Who knew?
Seacrest followed up his clandestine flashback video with two more anniversary posts, both featuring his fast-talking cohost, Ripa. The first captures the dynamic duo recreating the very first selfie they took together on the show.
The second showcases a pictorial look back over the last year at some of Seacrest and Ripa’s most memorable moments. “Having the best time on this show — thank you @kellyripa, @gelmanlive, our producers and viewers for welcoming me into the fam,” Seacrest captioned the visual retrospective. “Happy one year to us.”
But putting aside all the feel-good warm and fuzzies for a moment, let’s talk turkey. How has Seacrest’s first year really gone? Well, it hasn’t been without its ups and downs. Although the show has enjoyed solid ratings since Seacrest joined, recent backlash has certainly cast a pall on production — in February, former E! stylist Suzie Hardy came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Seacrest.
Ripa stood by her new cohost and the network “cleared” him via an internal investigation, but detractors feel as though the serious claims have been swept under the rug. As of March 29, Hardy has reportedly filed a police report against Seacrest to substantiate her claims.
It remains to be seen what will come of that situation. But for now at least, Seacrest is celebrating a largely successful first year on Live and is looking to the future of the show.
