Is Ryan Seacrest leaving ‘American Idol’ for ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ or will he host both?

Ryan Seacrest has been named the new host of Wheel of Fortune, but that begs the question: what will happen to his other hosting gig, American Idol?

In researching this article, I tried to find a definitive answer to the question of whether or not Seacrest would be quitting American Idol completely or doing double duty by hosting both Wheel of Fortune and American Idol. I’m going to be honest with you, I did not actually find a straightforward answer to this question. That means there has been no official announcement about whether or not Seacrest will quit American Idol or continue hosting it – for the time being. What we do know is he will definitely be hosting Wheel of Fortune, per The New York Times. 

All that being said, I did find some interesting tidbits in my research that make for intriguing pieces of fodder for speculation. So let’s break down all the reasons why Seacrest might work both jobs and all the reasons he might have to pass the mantle of American Idol to someone else. 

Reasons why Seacrest might continue hosting American Idol

The first and most obvious reason why Seacrest might continue hosting American Idol even as he takes on the additional duty of hosting Wheel of Fortune is the simple fact that both shows are run by Sony. That means Seacrest would have the same boss under both programs. What’s more, American Idol has recently been renewed for its seventh season with ABC, per Deadline. Not only that, but both Wheel of Fortune and American Idol’s network home being on ABC means the conflict of business interest of having the same TV host on two separate channels won’t be a factor, either.

Another reason why Seacrest may very well stay with American Idol is the simple fact that he has shown great loyalty to the program. Even for the period of time when he was doing double duty hosting Live with Kelly and Ryan and American Idol, he ultimately decided to quit Live with Kelly but reassured fans he would remain on American Idol, per Distractify. Indeed, while other American Idol judges have come and gone, Seacrest has remained its longest-running cast member. Furthermore, he has never so much as vaguely alluded to becoming fatigued from being the host of American Idol in the over two decades helming the gig.

Reasons why Seacrest might quit American Idol 

Even though there appears to be a mountain of reasons Seacrest will likely keep his American Idol hosting gig, even with the new hosting duty of Wheel of Fortune on top of it, there are also some equally good reasons he may end up passing the microphone, after all. 

For instance, Seacrest has done the double-duty hosting dance before by being the co-host of Live with Kelly and Ryan on ABC for seven years. If our logic holds true about Seacrest hosting two shows on the same network not presenting any problems, then he should still be the host of both those shows. However, that’s not the case. Live with Kelly now has a different co-host at the helm — Kelly Ripa’s own husband, Mark Consuelos — with the program now being called Live with Kelly and Mark.

It turned out to be exhaustion as the main culprit for Seacrest ultimately quitting Live with Kelly, according to the Distractify article. As a result, Seacrest would sometimes be absent for his hosting duties, with Consuelos filling in for him. If Seacrest hosting both American Idol and Wheel of Fortune once again leads to untenable fatigue to the point of interfering with his work, it seems inevitable that he will eventually quit one of the shows. What’s more, Seacrest’s long tenure on American Idol might actually make it an appealing prospect for him to pass the torch to someone else from the standpoint of giving the younger generation a shot at MC greatness.

Plus, Seacrest sounds extremely enthusiastic about the Wheel of Fortune hosting gig, as he called it a “full circle moment” in a heartfelt post on Instagram.

In my estimation, it seems like Seacrest will probably have double duty hosting American Idol and Wheel of Fortune for at least a temporary period, given the singing competition reality show’s recent season 7 renewal. As to whether that scenario will stretch on for years — like it did with Live with Kelly, or not — is anyone’s guess.