Ryan Seacrest Reportedly Makes $12 Million per Season of ‘American Idol’ After ABC Purchase

Ryan Seacrest is everywhere. In fact, his packed filming schedule has left a lot of fans wondering if all his filming commitments are taking a toll on his well-being. But that's a claim he's seemingly negated in the form of social media posts that show him looking engaging in intense-looking fitness routines.

And while he's lent his talents to various radio and TV programs, Seacrest is most closely associated with American Idol. He's been a mainstay of the show since the beginning, so how much does he make for being on the show now, in 2026?

Distractify has previously repsorted on Ryan Seacrest's redoubtable net worth, which stood at around $430 million in 2021. The TV personality's been hard at work since then, so it's no surprise that his net worth has purportedly grown since then to a staggering $500 million, as per more recent estimates.

A large portion of his wealth is attributed to his tenure with American Idol, which he joined when the program launched on Fox back in 2002. MSN writes that Seacrest was earning around $5 million per season of the massively popular show, which is a figure he maintained throughout its first eight seasons.

Afterward, the outlet said that Seacrest's salary jumped to $15 million a year. And ever since ABC bought American Idol from Fox in 2018, Seacrest's earnings per season were brought down to $12 million for each batch of episodes.

Philadelphia radio station 92.5 XTU provided further insight into Seacrest's negotiations following the network switch.

Word is that ABC was only trying to get Seacrest to do the show for $5 million a season after the show was rebooted under ABC's umbrella of shows. However, Ryan and his team were able to get that deal bumped up to $10 million. But the outlet did reference that the Wall Street Journal reported that Ryan was able to negotiate that up to $12 million afterward.

As mentioned previously, there have been a number of people who've noted what they believe to be a drastic shift in Seacrest's appearance throughout the years. Being in the public eye for as long as he has, Seacrest is under constant scrutiny.

So it's understandable if someone, who was tuning in when Ruben Studdard first won the competition early on, ends up catching a more recent episode of Idol and seeing the same host they watched over two decades ago look different than they remember.

Celeb gossip outlet Nicki Swift spoke with a cosmetic surgeon regarding Seacrest's appearance to speak to the concerns over the shift in the host's appearance throughout the years.

According to Dr. Brandon Richland, Seacrest's appearance changes is largely attributed to weight loss and body re-composition.

The plastic surgeon looked at photographs of Ryan from 20025 and compared it to how Seacrest looked during promotional videos for Celebrity Wheel of Fortune. And Dr. Richland stated that the way his face looks is a demonstration of "the clinical intersection of volume management, soft tissue laxity, cosmetic treatments and lifestyle driven atrophy."

Richland added: "His mid-face remains elevated, but there is a suspicious lack of static lines for a man in his late 30s with such a demanding, high-stress schedule."

However, the doctor also mentioned that Seacrest may have fallen victim to "Ozempic Face." Which occurs when facial fat is removed from a person's countenance quickly.

As Richland writes: "While possibly the result of extreme metabolic change, given the prevalence of GLP-1s such as Zepbound or Ozempic, the latter is much more likely ... when you lose that much volume at 50, the skin can 'drape' or appear 'gaunt," Richland stated.