Los Angeles, April 20 (IANS) Anchor-producer Ryan Seacrest is reportedly planning to quit “American Idol” to focus on his career as a producer.
The 39-year-old, who has hosted the US reality singing competition since its first season in 2002, wants to jump ship before the FOX series gets cancelled due to declining ratings, reports contactmusic.com.
A source told gossip website RadarOnline.com: “Ryan is telling friends that this season of ‘Idol’ is likely to be his last. He’s lost the passion for it, and desperately wants to do different things at this point in his career, like produce the Oscars and start developing more of his original ideas.”
The presenter is also coming to the end of his $30 million two-year contract with “American Idol” and so, he wants to focus his energy on being a producer, especially following the success of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”.
“Ryan’s reduced role in this year’s Emmys red carpet coverage is a clear move toward a life that involves less hosting and more producing. He wants to transition to behind the scenes more, and is getting fed up with the ‘interviewing people’ part of his job, when his heart is really in the work he does as a producer,” said a source.