Biography of Ryan Seacrest

Seacrest was born and raised in Dunwoody, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia), and began his broadcasting career while in high school as an evening radio host for a local station. Seacrest attended the University of Georgia, where he majored in journalism and hosted an afternoon radio program on the radio station KYSR.

Ryan's first television job was co-host, together with MTV's Maria Sansone of the syndicated Gladiators 2000. During college, Seacrest hosted ESPN's Radical Outdoor Challenge program; this led him to a series of television hosting jobs which culminated in the position as co-host of the hit reality TV series American Idol in 2002 with Brian Dunkleman. The following year, Seacrest became the sole host. In 2003, he also hosted the spin-off show American Juniors.

In January 2004, Seacrest launched a daily entertainment/variety/talk syndicated television program, On Air With Ryan Seacrest. However, due to low ratings, the show was cancelled, and aired its last episode on September 17, 2004. Also in 2004, Seacrest created a new sign-off phrase for himself, "Seacrest ... OUT", with hopes that it would become a catch phrase. Unfortunately the response was less than expected as the saying only became much derided and lampooned.

In late April 2005, Seacrest received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the tender age of 30. In contrast to the numerous legendary Hollywood stars that populate the walk, this honor to the former DJ was viewed as a dubious and controversial one by many. As a result, in May 2005 a generous amount of media attention focused on an anonymous blogger using the pseudonym of "Assistant Atlas"1 who offered an internet contest with a prize of $50 to anyone who could successfully defecate on Seacrest's Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

In August 2005 it was announced that Seacrest would become executive producer and co-host of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve.Besides Idol, Seacrest is currently the host of two radio programs, a daily broadcast On Air With Ryan Seacrest on the Los Angeles station KIIS-FM, and the syndicated radio program American Top 40, originally hosted by Casey Kasem.