After more than three decades in broadcasting, the longtime TV and radio host says he wishes he had worried less about being perfect
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NEED TO KNOW
- Ryan Seacrest reflects on his early career, admitting he focused too much on being perfect as a host
- He emphasizes authenticity, curiosity and strong listening skills as key traits for successful broadcasters
- The Top Host competition offers aspiring hosts a chance to win $25,000 and launch their careers with iHeartRadio
Ryan Seacrest has spent more than three decades making radio and live TV look easy. Looking back at the start of his career, though, there’s one thing the host wishes he had done less.
“I think when I started, I wanted to be perfect,” Seacrest, 51, tells PEOPLE. “You know, I was trying to prove myself and I wanted everything to be exactly right and no mistakes and I didn’t want to admit to not knowing certain things. I think that I sort of maybe focused too much on that early on.”
Now, as he helps search for the next generation of broadcasters through Colossal’s Top Host competition, Seacrest is passing along the lesson he learned over years in front of the microphone and camera: You don’t have to know everything to be a great host.
Credit: ABC/Jeff Neira
“For someone that’s starting out, it’s okay to not know everything and not be perfect,” he says. “And many times, as I’ve seen over the years, those imperfections can become the most connectable qualities and some of the best moments in any content.”
For Seacrest — who has hosted everything from American Idol and American Top 40 to Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and Wheel of Fortune — being a good host is ultimately less about having all the answers and more about being genuinely interested in the person sitting across from you.
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“I think someone who is themselves, someone who is not trying to be what they think other people want,” he says. “They want, they need to be authentic and be who they are. And that doesn’t always mean you have to be perfect or know everything for sure, but just curious and genuine.”
“Curious, genuine, authentic,” he adds. “I think that’s what makes for a great connection with people, whether it be audio, video or the combination.”
Credit: Christopher Willard/Disney via Getty
When Seacrest is evaluating an aspiring host, the first thing he notices isn’t necessarily how well they talk.
“[It’s] how well they listen. It’s not even about the talking,” he says. “I really believe, and I had to learn this over the years, that the best hosts and best conversationalists with others in an interview are those who can listen the most and listen the best and not necessarily have to follow a prepared list of questions or prepared narrative conversation.”
Instead, he says, the strongest interviewers know how to react in the moment. “They can really go with the flow and change their questions, change their follow-ups, pivot to any different direction,” he says. “I did learn that listening is far more valuable than talking, even when you’re a talking host.”
Even after all these years, Seacrest says he still gets excited before going live. Preparation, he says, is what gives him confidence when the cameras are rolling.
“I would say any world leader would probably make me nervous, but I am excited when I go on the air live. I look forward to it,” he says. “Sometimes when we have a live show at night, I wanna start sooner.”
He continues, “I think the key for the comfort level, and this is something that whoever wins this contest should definitely think about, is preparation. You are much more confident when you’ve prepared for the different scenarios that could be part of a live show and you prepared with the content or certainly the content that you wanna cover in a live show. Well, so preparation gives me comfort.”
Credit: Disney/Eric McCandless
Seacrest is hoping to give another aspiring host the kind of break that helped launch his own career.
“At the core of this, when I look back at how I got my start, somebody had to give me a break,” he says. “Somebody had to be willing to open a door. And essentially, that’s what we’re doing with this contest with Top Host.”
Colossal’s Top Host competition is searching nationwide for emerging talent in audio and broadcasting, with the 2026 winner set to receive $25,000, host a professionally produced six-episode podcast series with iHeartRadio, and appear as a featured guest on an episode of On Air with Ryan Seacrest.
“It only takes one break to change your career forever. That’s why I’m so excited about the Top Host competition, designed to find the next great voice and give rising creators a massive platform to be heard,” said Seacrest in a statement.
The competition will also benefit the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, which brings interactive media studios to pediatric hospitals so young patients can create content, host podcasts and interview celebrity guests while receiving care.
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