What Ryan Seacrest Said About Marriage, Starting a Family

Ryan SeacrestHis status as a long-term bachelor has led to many headlines over the years as he navigates romance, family life and the pressure to settle down.
I American Idol the host has had a series of high-profile romances, even if she tries to keep part of her personal life private. He fell in love with a model Shana Wall from 2003 to 2005 and spent three years with Julianne Hough. Seacrest is also romantically linked Shayna Taylor, Renee Hall, Aubrey Paige and more over the years.
Although he’s never married, he’s had some close calls over the years — and thought about his future along the way.
Keep scrolling to learn what Seacrest had to say about marriage, having a family and everything in between.
Not being married

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest
Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesSeacrest joked about being single in season 23 American Idolreacting to the performance of the contestant Thunderstorm Artis.
“Well done,” he said in the May 2025 episode. “A beautiful song with beautiful words. I just printed them backstage. ‘Your blue eyes are as soft as summer and your touch can take the coals out of my burning heart from that gray December.’ I have never been more depressed to be single than I am right now.”
Artis performed “Out of the Blue” as a Mother’s Day tribute to his wife, Faith.
Having Children
Seacrest explained in a 2021 interview no The Wall Street Journal that eventually she wants children – but for now, she’s focused on the present.
“I don’t go down that road at all, which is my age,” he said. “I think in the last year, it’s become clear to me that yes, I want to do that. … I want to be found and be present.”
Meanwhile, Seacrest stays close to his family, including his sister, Meredithand mother, Constance Marie Zullinger. He said that in 2022 the relationship they already have is enough.
“I’m happy. I’m happy in this moment,” he said Lisa Rinna during an episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan. “I can’t think of anything else. Why am I pushing? I think having children at the right time would be good. I have a very good family, a very small family. I have a niece, [my sister] Meredith has a daughter. My parents have been married for 52 and a half years, so that’s a high bar. So that’s in my head.”
He added that his mother has “given up” on wanting grandchildren from him.
It’s still time to get married

Ryan Seacrest hosts Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve
Jeff Neira / ©ABCSeacrest discussed the inevitable proposals he will see in the crowd in Times Square on New Year’s Eve during the December 2024 appearance. Good Morning America.
“There’s still time for me,” he joked about the latest wedding road trip.
ABC reporter Is Reeve he replied, “You’ve got this, Ryan.
‘How Do I Do That?’
Seacrest told listeners on his radio show, He’s on the air with Ryan Seacrestin October 2020 that watching his friends’ children’s interesting Halloween helped him decide that he wanted to be a father one day.
“It was weird because Halloween changed me,” he said. “I said a few weeks ago, ‘I don’t like this,’ and then I saw some of my friends’ kids enjoying it, and then I saw my nephew, and he’s so cute. [Sisanie] and twins, and I can see how happy you are, and I would never in a million years – actually if you asked me when I was 40 a few years ago ‘Do you want kids?’ [I’d say]’I don’t know’ — and now, all of a sudden, all I can think about is, ‘Wow, how do I do that? I’m growing up. What options do you have?’”
You’re Almost Engaged

Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest on the set of Live With Kelly and Ryan
Jeff Neira / ©ABCCohost Kelly Ripa asked Seacrest in a May 2017 episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan would you have dated. While i Wheel of Fortune The broadcaster said he didn’t, and pointed out that he had come close.
“I approached and made it the right move,” he explained. “But I like the idea – and I know you will ask me – marriage because my parents have been married for 47 years, so I have this thing – and you get married at 21.”
Following the Example of His Parents
If Seacrest does decide to settle down, he’s set very high standards for himself in the romance department. He explained that he looks to his own parents and their marriage as an example to emulate, and that the years he has spent looking up to them have led to a “higher goal.”
“My parents [have] I’ve been married for 47 years, so I have this thing …” Ripa explained in May 2017.
Online dating
During the March 2026 episode “Love is in the Air”-theme episode Wheel of FortuneSeacrest revealed that he was looking for love on the dating app Tinder.
“I love ‘Love is in the Air.’ I am very excited to watch all these games. And I’ll be on Tinder tonight so I can find it,” he told the cohost Vanna Whitejoking that he was “very lonely up here” as the single man among the couples who participated in the episode.





