Ryan Seacrest gets emotional reflecting on father’s prostate cancer diagnosis

Ryan Seacrest opened up in an emotional moment during his radio show about the difficult journey his father, Gary Lee Seacrest, has been facing in his battle with cancer. 

Speaking during the July 21 episode of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, the longtime host shared a deeply personal update that he had kept private until now.

“So my dad is about 80 years old and I have a very close relationship with my father,” Ryan began. 

“And my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer years ago and started his treatment. And he, it didn’t get better. It got worse and it spread. It didn’t go well for him.” 

Though the diagnosis came years ago, Ryan admitted he hadn’t spoken publicly about it until recent events moved him to share.

His voice grew heavy as he recalled being on set for American Idol last season when his sister called with alarming news. 

“She said, ‘Dad is in the ICU. How fast can you get here?’” Ryan said. 

“I finished the show. We were almost done. I couldn’t even remember what I was saying was on the show. It was like robotic at that point.”

He flew to Atlanta immediately and was met with a frightening scene. 

Gary had developed pneumonia on top of his cancer, and the situation quickly became critical. 

“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.”

His father, already weakened from chemotherapy, couldn’t eat, drink, or use the bathroom without help. For months, he hadn’t been able to leave the hospital or his home. 

Amid all this, Ryan also revealed that his mother, who has been in remission from cancer, was in Atlanta as well — but he encouraged her to take a break from the intense caregiving. “God bless her,” he said quietly.

Even in such trying times, Ryan found a glimmer of hope. 

“His birthday is in a few days,” he shared. “And I asked him, ‘What would you like for your birthday?’ And of course he said, ‘I just want to get out of this chair. I just want to leave this house.’” 

That wish finally came true. Ryan received a photo of his parents together at the beach. “They went to a beach to sit outside. They just want to look at the water. They can’t do much.”

Choked up with emotion, Ryan paused before finishing the story. 

“I watched them over the weekends send photos of smiling and happiness and being together — they’ve been married for 55 years. And they’ve got each other, and his pneumonia is gone, but his cancer is not, and so we have to go back into another treatment and fight this cancer.”

While the road ahead remains difficult, Ryan expressed confidence in his dad’s strength. 

“I know he’s going to get through this. You know, we were worried about flying and everything, he had to take oxygen on the plane. Thank God he made it. 

And they’re just happy to sit together looking at an ocean. And I just, I want to share that because I’ve been holding that in for a long time.”

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