Ryan Seacrest Breaks Down While Detailing Dad’s Battle with Prostate Cancer

Instagram

During Monday’s ‘On Air with Ryan Seacrest,’ the radio host became emotional as he recalled how his father’s battle with prostate cancer took a turn for the worse earlier this year.

Ryan Seacrest is opening up about his father, Gary Seacrest’s, battle with prostate cancer.

During Monday’s episode of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, the longtime radio host broke down in tears while detailing his dad’s struggle with the disease. Seacrest, 50, shared his father’s battle as he and his co-hosts were congratulating beloved producer, Dennis Clark, on the announcement that he was now in remission.

“I haven’t shared this on the air because it has been very private for me and my family as it was something that was extremely hard to see with my father,” Seacrest said, adding that he has a “very close relationship” with his dad, who will turn 81 in a few days.

The American Idol host said his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer “years ago,” noting that his dad’s condition “got better” after undergoing treatment, before it then “got worse and it spread.”

“When this happens to somebody or someone really close to you that you love, this is a hard thing to see, because the treatments that are commonly recommended can be barbaric to the system. They can cause so much damage to your body in other ways,” he explained.

Seacrest said chemotherapy “didn’t go well” for Gary, adding that he caught pneumonia earlier this year. He recalled how during a live show of American Idol last season, his sister, Meredith, called him, and revealed that their father was in the hospital.

“She said, ‘Dad is in the ICU, and how fast can you get here?’” Seacrest recalled, adding that he’s “never really spoken about this.”

He noted that he “finished” the live show, but he “didn’t even remember what I was saying” when he was on air. When the taping ended, Seacrest immediately flew to his hometown of Atlanta, arriving at the hospital in the “early morning.”

“The night that I got there, the conversation they were having with [my father] about an emergency surgery was a life or death conversation, 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,” Seacrest recalled, before expressing his relief that his father decided against the surgery as it “could cause complications.”

He then revealed that “for weeks” he was “broadcasting” from a hotel room in Atlanta, and was visiting his father “every single day.”

“When you see a parent suffering and when you see them going through this and you don’t understand it yourself, you’re just listening to all the different doctors and trying to make sense of what they’re trying to suggest and do,” Seacreast said. “It’s a hard thing, but I didn’t want to miss trying to understand who these people were that were taking care of my father.”

“He could not get up to sit. He could not eat. He could not drink water,” he added. “He could not go to the bathroom. Weeks go by in ICU, and finally, he began to get some strength back.”

Seacrest went on to share that he needed to help lighten the burden from his mother, Connie, especially because she has also battled cancer and is in remission.

“I needed her to take a break,” he explained, adding, “When you’re a kid, no one tells you how to handle this with your parents.”

Seacrest shared that his father began to recover after being “absolutely miserable” in the ICU.

“He slowly gained strength,” he recalled, before taking a moment to give a heartfelt shoutout to the nurses who helped his father. “The nurses are the people that nurture and care and have emotion about their patients. The nurses are the ones that are really looking after them day and night for hours, and I loved the team of nurses.”

Seacrest said Gary was released “months” later, and returned home, where he had “full-time care.”

“Weeks went by. He didn’t leave his seat, or a hospital, or a home for four and a half months,” he recalled, adding that he flew “back and forth” to see his dad on the weekends.

“His birthday is in a few days, and I asked him — first of all, to see him getting stronger, I was just so happy — 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.’”

Seacrest then became choked up, before breaking down in tears as he recalled how his father got his birthday wish.

“Last night, I got the most powerful, good, happy picture from my dad and my mother, who was with him,” he said emotionally. “They went to a beach to sit outside. They just went to look at the water. They can’t do much, but I saw him smile. I saw my mom smile.”

Seacrest removed his glasses as he continued to cry, telling his co-hosts that he was “embarrassed,” to which they assured him there was no need to be.

“I watched them over the weekend send photos of smiling and happiness, and being together. They’ve been married for over 55 years,” he shared tearfully. “They’ve got each other and his pneumonia is gone, but his cancer is not.”

“So we have to go back into another treatment and fight this cancer,” he added. “It’s difficult.”

Seacrest noted that he was “so excited” to hear that his longtime colleague Dennis was his remission because he was “living and seeing it” himself

“Cancer affects every one of us in some way, and it. And it sucks. And the treatments suck … treatments are tough. But I know he’s going to get through this,” he said, adding that they’re all going to “celebrate” Dennis.