Hey, remember when Ryan Seacrest and Jennifer Lopez used to work together? Jlo sat on the American Idol judges panel for seasons 10, 11, 13, 14 15. That’s five seasons! But when the American Idol host tried to enter the singer/dancer’s exclusive 50th birthday party earlier this, he almost didn’t get in! Ryan told the humiliating story on Thursday’s (July 25) Live with Kelly and Ryan.
“So, I get there, very excited because she personally invited me,” Ryan explained to Kelly Ripa, his co-host on the morning talker, “So I get to the front and [the guy] has a list and I see there are a bunch of Ryans … and he says, ‘Well, you’re not on the list.’”
Ryan continued: “This is a true story. So I say, ‘Cleary there must be a mistake … she invited me personally. Can I see the list?’ Well, sure enough … there’s no Ryan Seacrest.”
Naturally, Ryan assumed the door guy would just recognize his famous face AND know that he and Jlo go way back. Welp. “No, he says, ‘Just wait under the fan.’”
Wait. Under. The Fan. Hoo boy. To Ryan’s credit, he did not shout “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!!!!” Instead, he waited patiently until a phone call cleared up the confusion.
Ryan had to fly back to New York from Miami. And since he wakes up bright and early in the morning for work on his AM radio show, he couldn’t stay for the entire dinner. He figured he’d have no problem sneaking out….
“Well, A-Rod gets up and makes the most romantic, sweetest speech,” he said of Jennifer’s fiancé, Alex Rodriguez, who threw the party at Gloria Estefan’s estate. “So, I’m sucked into the romance movie and I didn’t want to leave.”
“We sit and I think there’s hundreds of people and I’ll be able to slip out,” said Ryan. “Well, I’m seated to the right of Jennifer and Alex is to the left of Jennifer. Which is great, but difficult if you have to leave.”
He did, however, finally manage to extricate himself for the party and fly home. Ryan filmed highlights on his phone, including A-Rod’s speech, which are featured in the clip from Live below.
Jennifer is a judge and executive producer for the dance competition World of Dance, which is returning to NBC for a third season next summer. Ryan Seacrest will be back to host American Idol when it premiers for a third season on ABC in spring 2020.
