Ryan Seacrest skipped GMA over scheduling and NOT Kelly’s Ripa’s demands, with back-to-back days of Live, On Air and American Idol leaving no time for an interview.
A busy overextended Ryan Seacrest made the decision early Tuesday to not join Idol judges for an appearance on Good Morning America on Wednesday due to time constraints and not at the behest of his ‘Live co-host Kelly Ripa.
Multiple sources tell DailyMail.com that the ‘American Idol’ host and his team determined that there simply was not enough time in his jam-packed schedule to sit down for an interview on the ABC morning show alongside new ‘Idol’ judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, despite his desire to do so.
That did not stop a report from emerging though that placed all the blame on Ripa, with Page Six claiming that Seacrest’s new co-host forbid him from appearing on GMA.
All smiles: Kelly and Ryan are seen laughing together during their show on Wednesday
There was not enough time in his jam-packed schedule to sit down for an interview on the ABC morning show alongside new ‘Idol’ judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, seen above
‘Idol’ judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan are seen above during the GMA interview on Wednesday
Ripa reportedly made this ultimatum in response to the ABC morning show poaching Ripa’s her former sidekick Michael Strahan according to Page Six sources.
The sources who spoke with DailyMail.com however all summarily dismissed these claims as ‘completely untrue’.
The network’s promotion of the much hyped interview confirms the timeline of events, with Seacrest’s name disappearing from social media posts promoting the ‘Idol’ cast’s appearance beginning on Tuesday.
Seacrest’s own schedule also provides a solid alibi, with the never-not-working TV personality taping ‘Live With Kelly and Ryan,’ ‘OnAir’ and then ‘Idol’ back-to-back-to-back on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Tuesday alone Seacrest worked over 17 hours and did not get home until after midnight, when ‘Idol’ taping finally wrapped for the day.
Ripa and Seacrest have become good friends while working together with Seacrest posting a sweet message on Instagram on Ripa’s birthday on Monday saying ‘Happy bday to the amazing @kellyripa! Not only did I score the bext TV wife, she’s also become one of my best friends :-)’
Seacrest posted a sweet message on Instagram on Ripa’s birthday on Monday saying ‘Happy bday to the amazing @kellyripa! Not only did I score the bext TV wife, she’s also become one of my best friends :-)’
He then was back up and doing it all over again on Wednesday.
‘Ryan also had “Live” this morning and his daily radio program,’ explained one network source.
‘So between that and his “Idol” production duties, something had to give on his schedule, which is completely understandable.’
Page Six spoke with a source who claimed: ‘Ryan was scheduled to be on Wednesday’s show well in advance. He’s been on the show rundown for a week. Then yesterday, or maybe even as late as last night, Kelly threw a s*** fit and told him he couldn’t do GMA, so he pulled his appearance.’
Seacrest is pictured behind the scenes while filming Idol on Tuesday when he was working for 17 hours solid
Another snap shared to his Instagram Wednesday while filming Idol. Seacrest captioned it ‘pianist called in sick… here’s a hat I’ve never worn before’
That version of events is not the case at all though according to one insider, who scoffed at the frequent depictions of Ripa as a jealous and petty employee.
‘ABC has the utmost trust in Kelly, and are thrilled with how her show has been performing so far this season,’ an industry insider told DailyMail.com.
‘She and Ryan are beating out Megyn Kelly’s new show on NBC and the two co-hosts have become incredibly close friends over the past few months.’
The insider added: ‘Kelly has been a network staple for three decades who has stayed focus on her show. She would have no issue at all with Ryan doing GMA.’
Seacrest appearing on GMA for an interview is also far different than the situation that led to Strahn exiting ‘Live.’
In this Tuesday photo that Seacrest shared to Instagram he said that the judges were on a break so he was ‘on seat warming duty’
Seacrest shared this photo at the end of filming on Tuesday saying ‘that’s a wrap on day 1! Feels good to be home :-)’
This Tuesday photo that Seacrest shared to Instagram showed him hard at work and was captioned ‘giving out golden tickets into the night. P.S. I’m hungry’
The network’s decision to move Strahan came two years after he first began appearing on GMA in a limited capacity, showing up two days a week and leaving early so he could make it back to ‘Live’ in time for the 9am taping.
Multiple industry insiders told DailyMail.com when news broke that Strahan was leaving the show last year that it was in fact Ripa who had initially been offered a slot on GMA, but turned it down.
‘Two years ago Kelly was offered Michael’s current role of contributor to Good Morning America. She turned this down as she was committed to Live and didn’t want to give less to the show that she had been focused on for well over ten years and then kept a ratings winner after Regis left,’ said one source with knowledge of the situation.
‘Michael then scooped up the role and started saying yes to everything ABC and Disney had to offer.
‘Kelly felt that her and Michael Gelman, Live’s Executive Producer, were left to be the only two people solely focused on the show.’
The network’s decision to move Strahan (pictured) came two years after he first began appearing on GMA in a limited capacity, showing up two days a week and leaving early so he could make it back to ‘Live’ in time for the 9am taping
Idol judges: Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan are seen above with host Ryan Seacrest
The source went on to say; ‘This began creating tensions internally as Kelly and Michael Gelman were having to work to Michael’s schedule as Live become less of a priority for him.
‘Kelly wasn’t shocked that he did this as
Ripa was also in shock having ‘watched [Strahan] advance his career off Live’s success for years,’ said the source.’
That person then added: ‘She is just disgusted and angry that he did this behind her back with her bosses.’