Ryan Seacrest has announced the death of his father, Gary Lee Seacrest, at the age of 79.
The 50-year-old TV host shared an emotional tribute to his dad on Instagram Friday, along with a series of sweet photos of the two of them with their family. His death comes after Ryan revealed in July, during an episode of his KIIS-FM On Air radio show, that Gary was diagnosed with prostate cancer years ago.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that my loving father peacefully passed away earlier this week,” Ryan wrote in the caption of his Instagram post. “My mom, sister and I have peace knowing he is in a better place and free of any pain or suffering. We are heartbroken,”.
“He was a devoted husband for 56 years, an incredible Papa to Flora, and my best friend,” he continued. “Dad you will live in our hearts forever. I love you.”
During Friday’s epsidoe of his podcast, On Air with Ryan Seacret, Ryan reflected on his and his family’s final moments with Gary, noting that his father had “been sick for a long time.”
“It's so vivid in my mind ... but as he said without much strength or energy that he loved us and that he was going to miss us,” Ryan explained. “He looked over at me, and the power in the contact, he said, 'Take care of your mom.' And he said to my sister [Meredith], [and to her husband] Jimmy, 'Take care of Flora my granddaughter.'
“And then literally a few seconds later he closed his eyes and said, '’’ve got to go.,’” Ryan added. “He knew. He was at peace.”
In 2021, the American Idol host shared a post on Instagram about his father “battling cancer for several years,” but said the cancer was “no longer detectable” at the time. However, in July of this year, Ryan shared that his father had prostate cancer, which was a diagnosis he kept “very private” for years.
“It didn’t get better. It got worse and it spread. It didn’t go well for him,” he said during the previous episode of his On Air show.
He said he decided to go public with the diagnosis because his father contracted pneumonia earlier this year, while Ryan still on was still filming the recent season of American Idol.
“I was on an American Idol show live during last season and my sister called me and she said, ‘Dad is in the ICU. How fast can you get here?” he recalled.
“I finished the show. We were almost done. I couldn’t, I couldn’t even, I didn’t even remember what I was saying was on the show. It was like robotic at that point,” he explained.
Ryan added that after his father had been in the ICU for a few weeks, he wanted to make sure he was there for his mother, who was in remission from cancer.
“I needed her to take a break,” he said. “When you’re a kid, no one tells you how to handle this with your parents.”
Gary is also survived by Ryan’s sister, Meredith and her six-year-old daughter, Flora Leach.
