"We w. ere backstage and you ran past my girlfriend and she sighed and blushed," Seacrest told Phillips, 21, after his performance of Dave Matthews Band's "The Stone." Added the Idol host: "I think I heard her say 'yummy.'"
As the camera panned to an embarrassed Hough backstage, Seacrest -- who fought through illness to host the two-hour show -- told her playfully: "We'll talk about this later, darling."
Though his performance was slammed by judge Jennifer Lopez for being "obscure and artsy," Phillips was thrilled to get Hough's stamp of approval.
"I ain't complaining! She's a gorgeous woman and Ryan's an awesome guy so they're an awesome match," he told Us Weekly backstage at Wednesday's show. "I think she got all giddy or something but I don't know. It was funny."
Phillips wasn't the only singer to get kudos on Wednesday. Joshua Ledet, who performed India Arie's "Ready for Love," earned his 12th standing ovation of the season. Argues fan favorite Ledet to Us: "I don't ask for the standing ovations, they just come!"
Tell Us: Which Wednesday night Idol performance was your favorite?
This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: American Idol: Ryan Seacrest's Girlfriend Julianne Hough Has a Crush on Phillip Phillips.
People magazine revealed that "Ryan Seacrest's first time in the spotlight was in the fourth grade. He performed the singing role of King Winter in a school musical – and he forgot his lines."[11] At age fourteen, he attended and soon became the "Voice of Dunwoody High School", as his school's regular morning public address system announcer.[12] "I wore braces and glasses and was fat and got teased about it," Seacrest said, "but I was always very ambitious."[13] At aged 16, while still attending high school, Seacrest won a hard-to-get internship at WSTR FM,[10] in Atlanta, with Tom Sullivan, who trained him in the many aspects of radio. When the regular DJ called in sick, Sullivan put him on the air for the very first show of his broadcasting career.[14] In a surprise phone call the next day, the station owner told Seacrest that, although he was not a professional, his stint of the night before had not been "too bad"[15] Soon he was given the weekend overnight shift at WSTR. Seacrest continued to work on air at WSTR FM until graduating from Dunwoody High School in 1992.
Seacrest went on to study journalism at the University of Georgia in the fall of 1992.[10] There, he would continue his radio show at a local Athens station. Seacrest left UGA at age 19 and moved to Hollywood to continue his broadcasting career. While there, he attended Santa Monica City College for a short time. By the time he was 20, he had landed a job in Los Angeles at Star 98.7's afternoon show, called Ryan Seacrest for the Ride Home. His starting pay was $15 an hour. It became the station's No. 1 show and was nationally syndicated.
Career
In 1993, Seacrest hosted the first season of ESPN's Radical Outdoor Challenge and in 1994, a kids show called Gladiators 2000 was created as a spinoff television show of American Gladiators. Seacrest appeared as the host of the fictional game show Lover's Lane on Beverly Hills, 90210 in "The Final Proof".
In the fall of 2000, Seacrest was the host of NBC Saturday Night at the Movies. On Saturdays in the fall of 2000 through the spring of 2001 NBC would dedicate the 8–11 PM EST block to showing a major theatrical film. Seacrest would appear as the host during the commercial breaks. He offered trivia on the film and a chance to win prizes by calling in a specific number. In 2001, he hosted a reality television program, Ultimate Revenge,] where elaborate "get even" practical jokes were played on family and friends instigated by their own relatives and friends. The two seasons featured current radio talk show host Karel.[22] It was shown on The New TNN from 2001 to 2003.[20][23] Additionally in 2000, Seacrest hosted the International Hawaiian Tropic competition held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. He was hired for the hosting duties by Hawaiian Tropic founder, Ron Rice, as a result of his voice and radio work in Los Angeles. In 2010, Seacrest appeared in an advertisement for Scope mouthwash.
In January 2004, Seacrest became the new host of the radio program American Top 40,[26] a syndicated weekly countdown show, created and formerly hosted by Casey Kasem. The show was syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks. In February 2004, Seacrest became host of Los Angeles radio station KIIS's morning show, replacing long-time host Rick Dees.[27] This show, also known as On Air With Ryan Seacrest, remains on the air. Seacrest is the host, executive producer of this syndicated daily show airing on over 150 stations in North America, with affiliates worldwide. Kasem had been one of Seacrest's radio idols when he was growing up, along with Dick Clark. Seacrest asked Clark for some career advice, and Clark told him, "I believe a stake in ownership is important to have,"[28] and Seacrest negotiated a piece of the ownership for the televised On Air. Seacrest stated, "So maybe in 20 years it will still be called 'On Air', with someone else hosting the show, but I can still produce it. Because, let's be honest, you don't know how long people are going to let you into their homes."[28] Recently, Kathy Griffin joined the long list of celebrity guests on Seacrest's radio program.
Leading host and producer
In 2002, Seacrest accepted the position as co-host of the hit reality TV series American Idol with comedian Brian Dunkleman. American Idol went on to phenomenal success, putting Seacrest in the national spotlight. The following year, when he became the sole host when Dunkleman left the show, Seacrest's on-screen enthusiasm made him an overnight sensation, and the show was seen by some 26 million viewers weekly.[30] In 2003, Seacrest hosted the spin-off show, American Juniors.[31] In January 2004, Seacrest launched a daily entertainment/variety/talk syndicated television program, On Air with Ryan Seacrest.[32] Due to low ratings, the show was canceled nine months later.
In January 2005, Seacrest hosted the "Celebration of Freedom" concert in Washington, D.C. for President George W. Bush, the Bush family and the United States Military.[33] In August 2005, it was announced that Seacrest would become executive producer and co-host of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, and that he would be the producer-host's eventual successor. On December 31, 2005, Seacrest performed much of the show's hosting duties. Dick Clark's role was limited by speech and mobility issues due to his recovery from a stroke. Seacrest also occasionally served as a substitute host on the CNN television program Larry King Live, and co-emceed Larry King's final show with Bill Maher on December 16, 2010.[34]
In January 2006, U.S. cable channel E! announced a three-year, $21 million deal for Seacrest to host and produce various programs, including E! News and its red carpet awards show coverages (E!'s signature piece of original programming).[35] An Associated Press profile portrayed Seacrest as using both the deal with E! and the Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve involvement as a springboard towards a long-lasting career in television production and ownership.[36] In April 2006, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for co-hosting the 2005 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade with Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa. Seacrest had a cameo in the summer 2007 blockbuster film Knocked Up,[34] where he steps out of his usual friendly host role on E! and rants about the stupidity of the interviews he has to conduct, noting that no one has anything to say about an exit strategy in Iraq or dealing with (presumably North) Korea. Seacrest hosted the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 16, 2007. This is also the same year the reality show he produced Keeping Up with the Kardashians premiered with mostly negative critical reaction, but favored among viewers. In 2008, it was announced he had proposed two new shows: Bromance, a reality show on MTV featuring Brody Jenner,[38] and an untitled scripted series he is producing with Paris Hilton.[39]
Seacrest was executive producer for the reality dating show, Momma's Boys, which ran for six episodes from December, 2008 through January, 2009 on NBC. The series followed mothers as they worked with their sons to find their perfect match.