Ryan Seacrest advised to take his time after American Idol exit

Ryan Seacrest was advised to "take his time" in finding another job after he left ‘American Idol’.

The 42-year-old television and radio personality was told to wait to find the right next step after he called time on his presenting duties for the US talent series and he admits he was left worried "who he was if not the American Idol guy".

iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman revealed: "When you come off a show like that, and you’d been doing it as long as he did, your natural tendency is to quickly replace it.

"But unlike most people, Ryan has this huge audience who listens to him every day on the radio – it’s bigger than his audience for Idol – so people aren’t forgetting about him, he isn’t going away. So, I said to him, ‘Take your time and wait until the right thing shows up for you; don’t try to take something that somebody wants you to do for them.’"

Whilst Ryan himself added: "I’ve always loved the show. And if I could do it forever, I would do it forever … [I worry] who am I if not the American Idol guy?"

Ryan is now co-hosting ‘Live! With Kelly and Ryan’ with his pal Kelly Ripa and he revealed he got the support of the previous hosts Michael Strahan – who sent over a bottle of wine – and Regis Philbin when the appointment was announced.

He said: "He [Regis] said to me, ‘Ryan, I was most worried about doing something the night before so we had something to talk about in the first 20 minutes of the show, so just make sure you’re doing something.’"

And Ryan – who also has his own radio show and presents live television specials alongside his work on ‘Live!’ – says he has now "figured out" what he is good at and what he isn’t.

He told The Hollywood Reporter magazine: "I’ve figured out what I’m better at and what I’m not so good at, and I’m doing the things that I’m better at. The things that I’m not so good at would make me tired and would make me want to slow down."