Ryan Seacrest joins Willie Geist to discuss his new gig as host of "Wheel of Fortune" and they receive some exciting news. They also talk about the hustle that took Seacrest from 'High School Radio DJ' to a media titan, and opening multiple 'Seacrest Studios'. (Original broadcast date September 24, 2023)
Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist
Ryan Seacrest Shares His Plans for Hosting "Wheel of Fortune" & Opening More 'Seacrest Studios' (September 2023)
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Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Got a great one for you this week with the busiest man in show business Mr. Ryan Seacrest. You know about everything this man does. The host of American Idol. New Year's Eve in Times Square. He hosted live with Kelly and Ryan for a bunch of years in the morning. He executive produces tons of reality shows that you know and love. You know, he's got three radio shows and has filled the shoes in jobs of his heroes growing up. People like Casey Kasem and Rick Dees and Dick Clark even Merv Griffin now as the new host. A Wheel of Fortune. All these people he looked up to he's worked for or with over the years. You won't believe it when you hear him talk but from the time he's about 10 years old growing up outside Atlanta. He knew what he wanted to be which was a radio guy a broadcaster. He mowed lawns save money not to buy like a baseball glove or G.I. Joe's or any of that stuff. He wanted a mixer and a headset so he could start doing radio broadcast at home and he did it. The guy who's known what he wanted from a young age. He went to the University of Georgia for a little while left at 19 to go to L.A. and begin this career of his and look at him now. It has brought him to a place of success and this is really cool and this is why he was in New York and we got a chance to sit down to open these Seacrest studios. What they are and I've been to the one in Nashville read some children's books there with my wife. They set up in children's hospitals state of the art studio radio. You can do podcasts you can broadcast to all the rooms in the hospital and bring some joy to the patients. Some of them can come down and listen and watch others because of germs and everything else stay up in their rooms but this is all broadcast up to their rooms. It's such a wonderful idea and a great way for a guy who's achieved everything he hoped to achieve in his life to give back and what do you do with that and this is what he's doing. So we got a chance to sit down to talk about that his career and yeah that new gig as the host of Wheel of Fortune you might hear over the course of the interview I asked him about Vanna White how important is it to him that she come back. Gives me a good answer just as we're ending the interview knock on the glass of the radio studio at iHeart Studios in New York and he gets the word that Vanna has agreed to return to come back with Ryan when he starts. So enough wind up let's sit back relax and listen now to Ryan Seacrest on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Thanks for doing this man. Good to see you. So good to see you. I feel like I'm on your home turf in here in the studio. Don't make a mess over there. Turn in the tables on you. I know. Maybe we should take some calls. I don't know. Yeah, call her. Call her. You're on. Like Larry King over there. They're on here. Tallahassee. Tallahassee you're on. Go ahead. So you have fit me into your incredible schedule that we were just talking about which is you got a radio show after this before this opening a new Seacrest studio which we're going to get deep in that because I love those so much. Can you tell me right now every job that you currently hold? Yes I can. I host on Earth Ryan Seacrest on Kiss FM American Top 40. I host American Idol. I will host Wheel of Fortune and I host New Year's Rockin' Eve. I will host the iHeartRadio Music Festival this weekend and I think that covers it and I host some things in my foundation studios. I think that's those are the spokes the cogs in the wheel while producing major television franchises on the side. I do less of that. There are a lot smarter people doing that for me. Your name's on the door. It's on the it's on the doors on the cards at the end. What is that schedule like for you because you've had it for a long time to be fair. You've always been a hustler. How do you get through it? I've only known this schedule. Even when I was in high school I believe it or not I was playing football and I was working at the local radio station at night. So my days and my afternoons and my nights were filled and I thrived off of that. Never did I think I'd have the stamina or endurance to do it in real life for a long time but it just sort of happened to be that way and I think the other thing is I always wanted to do this. I always wanted to sit near one of these. I always wanted to be on the air and I think the fact that I get to do it I'm grateful but I'm always afraid it might not be there. I think you can relate right? Yeah. That's one of those things that drives us I think. Yeah gobbled up while it's here. Yeah. You spent some time this morning in Queens the children's hospital over there opening I think it's the 12th. Is that right 13? 13th is another one to come in basically a media staff center and I was just telling you I've had a chance to go to the one in Nashville and first of all they're so cool they're so well made state of the art. Explain for people what exactly happens in those rooms because it really is magic. Well thank you you and your wife were there in Nashville and you're reading stories to the kids that came into the Seacrest studio. You know Willie I wanted to do something that made an impact but also was tangible something that really created an energy inside children's hospitals. So I came up with the idea to develop the state-of-the-art media centers, content centers, broadcast studios that become the heartbeat of these hospitals. They become the pulse in the middle of the lobby in the center of some very serious things that are happening inside those places and the idea is to create that energy and destination for patients and families to totally escape if they can just for a few minutes. What's happening what they're going through and I wondered before we created the Seacrest studios would it be possible that a patient might wake up one day having to seek treatment and be excited to go because they were going to see their friends or they were going to meet a celebrity inside the studio and we hear stories of that happening now which is it's just so very exciting. So today number 13 I did the day be broadcast stated the art equipment something nicer than what we've got here and we saw a lot of smiles. It is to have experienced it and seen it so for people can sort of paint a picture in their minds my wife and I are in there you're in there with a celebrity guest and a lot of the kids can't come down because they can't be exposed to germs so you're in a sense putting on this show for them and bringing light into their lives but they also they get to come down and do some production themselves right. They do we want it to be all inclusive because like you said there are patients who just they they can't for many reasons come down to be a part of it in person but they're not excluded because we can video them in we can have them call in on the phone lines and they can talk to the person that's there or they can play games some of the bingos the most popular game we have in the country and our Seacrest studios so no one's left out and even today we had Stephen Sanchez come in and sing until I found you which is a huge hit and I saw patients singing along to him patients that are going to have things happen to them and doctors seeing them and treatments in a few hours singing a song and that's what the studios create. It has to be so gratifying to have worked as hard as you have worked over these years to get where you are to be in a position to do something like this to say all right I'm here what do I what do I do what do I get back and to see kids with those looks on their faces in some pretty dark times in their lives it's got to make I feel really good. I think you know fortunately I have worked hard and I have met a lot of people who do good things and I early in my career wonder well what what will my legacy be what what is it that I can do and really add value to not just donate but really make something and make something that that kids will appreciate when they go through tough times you know the the kids that are in these children's hospitals if anybody's been to them you don't know when you're gonna have to go and you're so happy there's a great one near you in your community but when you're there families miss birthdays kids miss proms and we want to create a place where they can continue to celebrate that make friends and connect and that's what these studios do. Is there a particular story or stories from a kid or a family that has stayed with you about the impact of these studios? I remember there's a there's a young girl in Dallas at her studio who wasn't the most confident she really wanted to work on herself confidence but she was nervous about it and she wanted to be a part of the studio but she didn't want to go down and be in front of other people and certainly be broadcast to all the rooms so we created an avatar for her through our technology where she could have a personality and a presence and she could host some shows well she got so excited about it and it built up her confidence so much that she then decided to start hosting the show in person in front of audiences in front of people and letting it be broadcast and I know her parents were just so taken aback by seeing her grow into this self-confident girl and that's just one of the stories of people who've used the studio to to see themselves grow. What a gift what a gift you've given these hospitals and these kids good on you thank you it's really it's awesome and it actually makes sense given what you just said about being 10 years old growing up in Dunwoody Georgia up 400 there just outside the perimeter. You have been in no Atlanta pretty well a little bit a little bit uh to have had that dream yourself and to have known at that age I'm going to be a broadcaster and so I think you were mowing lawns that's it money that radio shack you know all of all that is it I mean it was very strange to even my parents I think at the time and my my friends who also mowed lawns but they would spend their money at the arcade at the mall I wanted to go to the mall in radio shack and buy a mixer a tiny one of these things at 10 at 10 and I wanted I was pretending to be Casey Casey counting them down from coast to coast I would go in with a little microphone I'd plug it all together and I would make tapes for my parents that they would use on our road trips to Florida when we'd have our summer vacation and I just it's it to me I always love music but I had zero talent in singing or performing or or playing in our eye like an instrument yeah like probably a lot of us here but I love music I love being around and that's that's just what I wanted to do. What did your parents think about the 10 year old kid who was obsessed with Casey Casey and Radio Shack they wondered why I was in my bedroom with the door closed for so many hours that what is he doing in there until they hear these tapes you know I remember that the day that I said to my mom mom I'm looking for some extra work could I make some outgoing messages at the time on the little micro cassette tapes for answering machines for our neighbors and charge them like you know two bucks she laughs and I said no I'm not kidding I'm being serious and I think they realized that this was something that I just was struck by and something I was so interested in and in Atlanta where I grew up the biggest stars were the DJs the the most famous people and those with all the access were the ones on the pop radio station yeah and so I was uh just fascinated by that world where do you think that came from most kids attend toys video game sports all the things you might expect it's just not a normal thing I think it's fair to say for that and sets of becoming a broad dimensional right you're a good way by the way you knew what you wanted I knew what I wanted I I don't know I remember being so excited to audition to be the guy that does the morning announcements and the pledge of allegiance at school and I thought gosh is there a way to do this for a living and I wasn't quite sure neither were parents but fortunately I found a way story goes so you do the morning announcements pretty good at it right well I knew the pledge yeah let's keep I knew that you had that you had that down that yeah you will make it in show business um the story goes you get a radio show at 16 years old on a you know an actual FM radio station in Atlanta how did that job come about at 16 um I called in to the nighttime DJ to request songs often and eventually he recognized me as a caller that calls every single night and I said could I come down after school one day and take a tour of the station sure come down went down my parents drove me um I toured the studio and I was just fascinated by seeing things happen that were being broadcast to other people outside of the room and all over this great big city in my mind and I thought this is really cool so I kept coming back at night eventually I was an unofficial intern and then I learned to run the board a couple years later there was a night where uh the tape that I was supposed to run of the DJ broke I don't think it was my fault and I signed on the air and said the call letters uh it was the first time I ever did it and I thought okay this is it this is what I want to do they let me do it they let me sign on and and say the station call letters and uh that was it so what was your rap back then Ryan would I recognize the radio Ryan reaching the beaches and rock in the docks everybody let's go you're on the air caller um my rap was very cheesy uh not that it's not now I mean not that it's changed minds that happens to be my sweet spot uh my lane but it was like I was over the top I was one of those you know guys that thought you had to talk like this all the time to make everybody you know listen and get your attention like that and uh slowly that that waned and went away and I looked up to you know Casey and Rick D's and and Larry King and Regis and Murm and Dick I mean as a as a teenager as a kid these were my idols these are the guys that made me feel so comfortable uh you know Dick Clark for example watching him on New Year's Eve as a kid you wanted to be there I'd never been in New York City you wanted to be part of that party and he made you feel welcome and made you feel a part of it and the wild thing is almost everyone you just listed you filled their shoes I can't even believe I mean I mean I mean D's K to K's and Dick Clark go down the line it doesn't make any sense it really doesn't have no formal training you're a self-made man and you obviously you were super focused you went to college to to Athens to for broadcast journalism yeah for a while and then I dropped out and then you're like I gotta get there faster I was really struggling Willie I was struggling because I knew everything I wanted to do I knew that I'd have to go somewhere else to really pursue it as big as I wanted to pursue it and that was either here in New York or Los Angeles and I was losing sleep I wasn't studying because I wanted to go do it I was working at the commercial radio station on the weekends I was missing the football games I was already in it and so I decided that I was going to go tell my very traditional parents who god bless them and love them they were married 53 years but they thought I would go to school get a degree get a job yeah it didn't work out like that I went to school dropped out drove across the country and pursued entertainment and what was that conversation like it my father is a lawyer difficult he's the defense attorney I had to present a very strong case but I just knew that I wouldn't be okay with myself if I didn't go for if I didn't try it and if it didn't work out I would probably come back and finish and and do the things that maybe I thought I should do but when I got to Los Angeles and saw you know no ceiling on opportunity there I was very focused and driven but like so many people who go to LA or Hollywood to chase their dream it's a grind it's not I move there and get idle there's almost no decade in there but I was chasing like being a DJ I was chasing being a movie so right so but still I mean you weren't the place where you wanted to be overnight no one knows so what were those what was that I still feel like I have that in me right like I still go to bed at night wanting to be better at everything that I was the day before and wanting to be you know welcomed into people's cars or homes but that grind at the beginning when you don't know anyone I didn't know anyone in the business and so you're just you're chipping away at what you think is the best way to do it sending audition radio tapes to different radio stations I remember my first job when I got out to LA was driving the van I drove the promotions van and then I did eventually the overnight shift but to be on overnights in Los Angeles big time made it I want to sign autographs at that point no one wanted them but but yeah you do you chip away and you learn and then American Idol comes along and that still was I was scared to death to host that because there was a live primetime show had no idea it would become a popular primetime show so that was nerve-racking too but then eventually you realize this is kind of all I know how to do I love the story that you go into audition for Idol as a judge yeah they're talking about being a judge but then it was what how do you feel about hosting live TV and you confidently said oh of course I got it yeah I've said that many times in my life I got this same thing about Wheel of Fortune I got this how do I do it I just yeah I figured I'll I'll learn by doing and and I did but those first few seasons I was so worried about making a mistake I wanted to be so perfect and then um and then you get you get reps at it and becomes more second nature and whoever could have seen coming what that became I mean even we even we inside of it couldn't believe that it was what it was you know to have people tuning in 40 million a night watching it in bars in big cities and rooting for their favorites and in stadiums cheering on in the finale it was crazy yeah I don't think people young people particularly now we really sound old when I talk about young people wait a week you're going to disabuse yourself don't associate yourself with my age the that but people don't understand what the show was like because it doesn't exist it doesn't exist it doesn't show that it's 40 million people to watch so what was it like being inside and feeling your life change every night that show came on the air it was exciting it was uh it was really cool to be out and have people come up and say I really love Ruben he's got to win or you know I carry just changed my life you know watching her changed my life and seeing her story changed my life they don't say hi Ryan they just launched right into right the person in the story that they associate with they loved on the show and I we all thought that was just amazing and it was unscripted it was loose we weren't quite sure what was going to happen every night I think the imperfections were the beauty of it for you personally what was it like okay here's the show blows up massive cultural phenomenon now everybody knows your name and your face did was that hard to get used to for a while it wasn't how to get used to uh I embraced it and you know frankly if if I see anybody today and they say hello I love it like I like people and I loved that somebody I've never met feels like they know me I will tell you when I saw the success of it for me personally professionally I made a commitment to dive deeper into working harder on more things to leverage the moment because I knew that this was an incredibly unique moment it may never will never happen again how do I learn and how do I leverage it so that there's a career that I can have and longevity I can have and those were lessons I learned from her you know I worked for him for a little while and he really taught me how to you know be the best person you can in front of the camera uh and also look at opportunities that are created from that and make those some businesses so that you can have some longevity well to that point if you look at the years so O2 right I think it's the O2 started yeah O2 started so a couple years later you're on air with Ryan secrets then all of a sudden you're doing the top 40 then all of a sudden you're doing New Year's Eve now you've got a production company you're following the Murv Griffin path so that was by design it sounds like it was it was by design it was literally looking at the the days of the week and seeing when we were doing I don't when we weren't and how do I feel those other days with other things and one of the best things suited for me where can I add value who are the best partners and I would sit and think about that it was it was mapped out I didn't know if it worked but it was that daunting though I mean it still has to be a little bit Donik just okay you're gonna walk out of here you're gonna do your radio show and then you're gonna go okay now where do I go or is that exciting is that a thrill I think it's exciting I I do I if I look at some of the days certainly over the last few years when I was going coast to coast to coast every five days if I look at on paper it's overwhelming yeah but when I do it it's fun you know it's everything I always wanted and I think that the that the pace actually fuels my energy if I were to do one thing once a week I'd be terrible yeah I'm with the other man you know I'd slow everything now I wouldn't be able to make a decision now I can I can move with some velocity um and I think it it it helps hey guys thanks for listening to the Sunday sit down podcast stick around to hear more from Ryan Seacrest right after the break banking with capital one helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees just ask the capital one bank guy it's pretty much all he talks about in a good way you'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too oh really thanks capital one bank guy what's in your wallet terms apply see capital one dot com slash bank capital one n a member fdic Reese's peanut butter cups are the greatest but let me play devil's advocate here let's eat so no that's a good thing that's definitely not a problem Reese's you did it you stumped this charming devil you love this podcast every episode imagine if you couldn't listen to it anymore or if you couldn't connect to any podcast imagine what you'd miss if you had no internet connection at all no way of finding a job or banking or seeking medical care online that's what life is like for the millions of Americans facing the digital divide since 2021 AT&T has committed five billion dollars to help connect every american so everyone has a chance to thrive now back to the podcast AT&T connecting changes everything welcome back now more my conversation with ryan seacrest on idle are you aware that seacrest out is still a thing people say yeah because i hear it right now they go seacrest in if i come into restaurant seacrest in it's crazy that that was i don't know how many years ago i signed off on the show and it seemed to stick where did that come from me i honestly i think i remember actually one of the nights there was some more things for me to say but i couldn't get it in in time before the show was going to end five four three two one i just went seacrest out before we got cut off by the local news and i think i just it's stuck little did you know 20 years that's it dudes are yelling to each other my legacy right there seacrest that's it that's it that's so bad it's not so bad that's it um i mentioned the production company yeah massive success beginning with keeping up with cartashians um i've heard Kim talk about how instrumental obviously you were to it cathy lee gifford was involved somewhere at the beginning talking to chris um the production company the idea behind that for you was what what kind of stuff did you want to did you want to make things i wanted to watch things that um you know were mainstream and pop culture i love popular things i love pop movies pop tv pop music and when i started the company that was the lens i we were looking through and chris jenna wanted to do a show with the family we were connected um and set up to meet and we had an incredible meeting and the rest is still happening what was the pitch just bring cameras in our house why we took cameras to a barbecue that they had um in calabasas one weekend i remember i had to i did we didn't have a camera i bought the camera for the person that worked for me to go up there was the first thing we purchased at the company and uh ellie goberg went up there and he shot it for us and he called me and said you're really gonna like the footage and it was them being them and throwing each other into the pool and loving each other at the end of the day and sitting in their family room and having a um uh a moment where they all hug and it had all of those the interesting things but it also had incredible heart and you saw and they made a commitment to be very vulnerable and honest um from day one and we've seen that every every episode still there it's still there yeah not to be overly grand about it but in some ways that changed popular culture that show i mean do you think so that elevating real people they become celebrities and and some business people and everything else and sort of something that was aspirational to young people it's certainly made uh an impact all over the world i mean they are so well known and they've created such remarkable businesses and you know chris jennor is one of my dear friends and i think one of the smartest people on the planet and they're also brilliant marketers i mean you know major companies should take a page from their book yeah they're good at what they do yeah no question about it i you mentioned you're back and forth when you took the job with kelly when they announced your name i was like how is he gonna do me too and i mean that is like a just a practical question yeah what was that decision like for you to hop in the morning tv here in new york when you had an awful lot of jobs in la it was a lot of thinking and many conversations with kelly she and i talked a lot about it and uh she really she explained to me what that show is and how it operates and how it works and how it's very unique it is a a small family operation that show it's not a big staff like a lot of shows out on the west coast um it really is a group of people who have been there a long time and it comes together a lot of times of the last minute and that's its beauty i mean i i watched kelly for so many years and watched how unbelievably brilliant she is and funny she is without a script without a lot of pre meetings or any pre meetings and it just happens and i thought how am i gonna do that and you get in there and it just goes but moving out here was something i really had to think about um and then when so i i made the the i agreed to come out here and then american i love the time wasn't on the air and then a few weeks later american i don't want back on the air on sundays in la so i thought okay so monday i'm in new york and sunday i'm in la so it was a lot of overnight travel i was interested to see reen you've done almost everything to do in tv and radio that this was different and that at the beginning anyway you weren't you were a little nervous i like this wasn't yeah i'd live like this wasn't a a natural thing necessarily it is i think the only thing i can relate to live is being on the radio radio has a lot of freedom and a lot of fluidity uh you know the first 20 minutes of live with kelly and mark or live with kelly and ryan that it we don't we don't know where we're going and at times you can probably tell but it's the it's the magic of it it makes it so much fun and you and you can get in there and talk i get in there and talk about you know this day with you for 22 minutes and hopefully people don't tune out but the freedom uh really taught me a lot but yeah i was i was nervous because i wanted to deliver i wanted the audience to be happy i was there and i wanted to do great for kelly too i love that reege told you you got to go out at night you gotta get strong you gotta do you gotta go you gotta go do stuff i mean i'm thinking it became a running gag on the show that i would go out at night but it was 430 i would have dinner i'd be at every restaurant here waiting for them to unlock the door so i could be the first seated and get out of there by five you're talking my language morning tv people right because they scare you off with yeah we have a table at five we'll take it you think you're not gonna want it right i'm like this the problem is on saturday when you want to go with your friends and you invite them at 430 they don't want to go like we were not no we're not doing that it does limit your social circle yeah just a little bit we've got to talk about wheel huh i'm so excited how did that come about we heard pat sajak was retiring everyone wondered who's it going to be who's it going to be we heard your name we said of course it's ryan well real of fortune is something that so many of us in this country have grown up with spent every evening with it's a part of our family our tradition our habits every single night uh i i was saying to you that you know that show on the air makes me feel like the world's going to be okay and when i would watch that show and anything was going on in the news real of fortunes on you know it's there's going to be a tomorrow it's going to be all right um it's just one of those incredible franchises that when i worked for murve i remember him telling me he created a based off of hangman you know that simple game that we all grew up playing in grade school and i think it stands the test of time because it is simple and it is something people play along and pat sajak is an icon in this business and he's made it so comfortable for everybody to watch it you feel like you know him you feel like you know vanna you feel like you want to be there on that set with them so i am i'm like a child i'm like a kid so excited about just being the scene the set you know to walk out on that set if i weren't hosting the show i still want to go see the set and watch them do the show you know it is because of all the things you said because it is has such a place in our culture and it does it's comfort food it seems to me you don't want to change too much about it right no you the game walks all you want to do is walk in and say good evening grab your devices and here's the first puzzle that's it saw by a val what do you want to do so do you have any plans yet i know it's still a year or so away but the what your version of the show will be my version will be the version that that is uh i think that i will um i'll walk out there and just be so excited to see people take home 10 20 30 thousand dollars a new car every single night um but it it really is when i think of the the jobs that i have or have had every single one feels like the dream job this does too you know this is like i i i really can't believe it one thing i've noticed about shows like that you watch it at home and you go for the host oh that that looks easy and then you get in there and you go oh wait a minute i've got to know how many teas there are all like there are some mechanics to that show i don't want to get you panicked a year there are four s's how do you know that so fast i mean this is what i'm i'm thinking about everything uh yeah i look with with a with a game show you've got to know the rules and and my mind stay out of the way and let the contestants win as much as they can and play the games and people love to watch the puzzles how important is it to you that vanna be back for your version of the show i think it's extremely important i am a huge van a white van we've known each other for a very long time um i've spoken to her um when i signed on i called her and said i very much look forward to being on that set with you and so i think that uh to have vanna on the vanna on the show is is extremely important and people absolutely love vanna white you feel confident it'll happen i do but i'm not making the decision i hope so i think everybody hopes up in the end i think a nation hopes up yeah yeah i mean you you just talked about it let's go back down the list the people you looked up to as that ten-year-old fourteen sixteen-year-old kid in georgia whether it's kasey kason or rick deezer dick clark or mr griffin you've either inherited their jobs and their shows you've worked with them do you still have pinch me moments when you think about the ten-year-old kid find the headset at radio shack for everything you've done i do i think about the moment where i met all of those people i think of that as a highlight of my life i think about the moment where i first got to sit with dick at a meeting ask for advice and guidance before i was working with him i think of i think of the late merve griffin and sitting with him where he would give me advice and guidance on how to build a career in this business and now being able to step in and host this great show he created i do think about all that and i'm very very grateful for it and um i i really do appreciate each one of those roles and hope i'm good at them well you are well i'm good tomorrow no questions the reason you've been doing it as long as you have we were both lamenting it a little while ago we're approaching a birthday both of us we are we were discussing how we used to be the young guys and i think in this moment a few minutes we will realize that's over that's over just now yeah we just realized it so as you turn the corner toward that birthday what else is out there i mean you've done so much from the time you left the university of georgia and went to la to now surely knowing you and knowing the way your mind works there's a whole bunch of other stuff out there i think in terms of of broadcast and work i'm doing what i love to do this new opportunity is going to be something i'm fully focused on the other passions of mine the love our foods and and i'm learning how to make wine and i have an olive orchard i'm not going to ask you about that so that's a whole food and travel it is such a a passion of mine i'm not a trained cook but i love to cook um i have just started making my own olive oil extra virgin olive oil i've been studying how to make wine but i'm sure i'll never be good at it but those things are are fun for me is that come from travel and you say boy that's delicious i wonder how you do something like that i think i i remember when i was um a baby DJ starting out when i got you know over time for working a holiday i couldn't wait to go out and spend that on dinner that's what i want to do i want to go out for i want to you know be an adult and go out for dinner and uh i still think that way it's like you know when i do have some time off what what cool place can we go to where can we taste some really local foods and so um i those are the types of things someday i don't know maybe a cooking show or an eating show maybe that those can be one of the same yeah like a Stanley two types actually that's the one you want yeah so are we selling wine or this is something that may be coming down the road so i have i do have grapes and i'm working on that now um i think it may come down the road i think it may happen at some point but just for for fun and love and hobby so that's the business side what about personally what do you want out of the next chapter in your life i think you know a little more balanced personally probably right to focus on personal relationships in my life i've had to say no to weddings and birthdays and um all kinds of things because of my schedule i haven't had to but i have because i have a difficult time saying no right it's like yes i'll be there yes i want to do it please let me have this opportunity so i think i'll probably take a beat and focus on that a little bit more you slowing down doesn't seem like it's gonna happen but we'll say about seven o'clock tonight i'm gonna take it at your four thirty dinner right um congratulations on opening the new seacrest studios thank you and they're just extraordinary people should look them up see what they do it's it's just awesome so um i applaud you for doing with your platform what you do every day it's great to see you man thank you now you're gonna be a guest on my show yeah let's flip it right thanks buddy just as our interview was ending seacrest got word that vanna had agreed to return to wheel for his inaugural season next year so right even as we've been sitting here a little knock on the window here news the vanna white will be back on your version of wheel of fortune this is such great news i'm glad the timing worked out perfectly in this moment but yes uh you know vanna has been such a staple on that show and in our living rooms for so many years i've been very excited to work with her but now that it's official i can say congratulations vanna i can't wait and congratulations on their forty first season you know vanna and pat while this season together and then she and i want a chance to work together how it's big news how important you think it is to have her on on this show it's super important to have an alight on wheel of fortune um she's beloved by this country and by the viewers and i i can't even imagine standing next to her on that set being able to say okay let's get to it um it's great news i'm very very happy to hear it and very happy i'll get to work with her and also probably nice for the new guy to have somebody who's been there a while yeah who i can say how does this work where do we go now what's next okay got it and just a little look to her probably centers you a little bit yeah right she she she can definitely fannyp please tell me what to do stick around for more of my conversation with ryan c crest right after a quick break you know how when you're living your life and then all of a sudden you're out there helping cops solve crimes abc tuesday i have an IQ of 160 i spot things that detectives miss falls most anticipated drama is all new high potential that big brain of hers is going to help us close out a lot of cases katelyn ulston is the new face of investigation you're a single mom pretending to be a god i am not pretending i'm just out here super captain high potential all new tuesday's ten nine central on abc and stream on hulu banking with capital one helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on shaking accounts and no overdraft fees just ask the capital one bank guy it's pretty much all he talks about in a good way you'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too oh really thanks capital one bank guy what's in your wallet terms apply see capital one dot com slash bank capital one na member fdic you love this podcast every episode imagine if you couldn't listen to it anymore or if you couldn't connect to any podcast imagine what you'd miss if you had no internet connection at all no way of finding a job or banking or seeking medical care online that's what life is like for the millions of americans facing the digital divide since 2021 AT&T has committed five billion dollars to help connect every american so everyone has a chance to thrive now back to the podcast AT&T connecting changes everything welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with ryan c crest it's cali ooches one of two point seven kiss fm los angeles ryan c crest with you thanks for having us on uh we are going to bring in a deeper voice than mine willy geist is with us it's a good word yes we'll have to put i have to turn your mic on tubs well done tubs we have a national broadcast star in here and you didn't turn his microphone on um willy geist from sunday today with willy geist morning joe msnbc today meet the press more shows more shows than one person should have i think we've made up half of those that's okay sounds good on the introduction but you've a see you serious jobs like you have you you actually have to we don't we will talk about things that well people don't have to know but you're serious though i just interviewed you for my show we're getting so much content out of this day is right right so here we are uh and listen you list your jobs exhausted me to be honest i mean i do so i do morning joe every day during the week that's a six a.m. to ten a.m. show that's four hours it's early he woke up at four and then i have the sunday show which is one hour but it's a lift you know how it is you can produce it right and do all that stuff but i'm not i'm not a quarter of the way to see crest town but question can i can the room sound less hollow on his microphone while we're here can you can you uh is there one extra yeah i think you're on a different mic just the right mark let me hear you willy one two three four five better great okay we we solved that problem there we go um so but uh when you have interviewed interesting people on your sunday show uh today may stand out like somebody you were so excited to talk to because we get kind of giddy about certain people to come through we do we do i think on some level you kind of get used to the experience of sitting down with someone famous um once in a while as you do too but then there are moments for me the first one i can remember we're still scrappy trying to get our show off the ground on the weekend on sunday and bill mary agreed to do our sunday sit down which is our long eight ten minute profile which is you this week by the way sesame and tanya look out you can watch oh yeah you can hear me you can hear me talk about stuff you are excellent by the way thanks i want to be our producers are nodding Ryan secrets was excellent knows what he's doing uh but bill so bill mary for people who don't realize has a 1-800 number he has no publicist no manager no nothing really it's like from the 80s you call this 1-800 number you leave a message and if he wants to call you back he will usually he doesn't for interviews and for interviews for pride this is wow britney from sunday today we'd like to interview for the show yeah usually doesn't call you back he didn't call us back did not then he showed up on the today's show to do a live interview with savannah and in the green room he said hey by the way i want to do that willy guy's show and they went okay can we just do it right after this and like well no we can get it through with us location and he goes all right i'm here tomorrow haven't come to the hotel at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning there's a bar on the roof of the hotel let's do it there okay scramble the jets next morning i go up to the roof of his hotel 10 o'clock in the morning elevator doors open bill mary steps off wearing like a fleece zip up green corduroy pants old new balance shoes sits in the chair and literally ask anything you want stories of the parties at s&l in the 70s you know catty shack ghost busters all that stuff and he was there for it so that was a it was a big moment for me because i love the guy and look up to him and also for our show because he sort of stamped it and validated it and then all of a sudden other publicist look at that said oh you build mary on the show uh david letterman's available jerry signfeld would like to do it and so that was that was a huge moment for us i want to be a slow week for you sunday with me on it but thank you very much come on i can we play match game let's do something fun with willies oh i love it so we bring back all these old games we play on the air uh this is match game right yeah all right so here is how it's going to work we'll give you a phrase you know with the blank in it uh our panel here is this neat tanya uh who's going to be on it it's top two i got two all right everybody is going to be on the panel and we'll see if we can get a match okay so you will mark is he gonna write it down is that the plan oh okay great so give it give it to me give me willies uh give me his entry okay so good think about this don't say that a good blank good blank all right what's the panel gonna come up with panel write down your answers good blank willy geist right now playing the match game on the air okay willy would you say good what good bye good bye he said looking for good bye good bye we need good bye okay now you can tell by tanya's face that she must have said goodbye because she's so excited about it and that gives it away all right sesame good good job thought about it thank you tanya good oh that makes more sense you know good morning joe uh okay let's see ruby oh my gosh well nobody got that that one's on me guys that one's by one more time come on here we go one more mark willy geist playing match game this is what you live for willy thank you very much for coming in to do this uh okay here we go okay new new blank willy think about that panel write down your answers new blank what's it gonna be new all right he's got it ready to balance because of his shoes new balance is not you ready for it yeah right new york new york well then clearly sesame you give it away you don't have new york what do you have sesame oh new one new balance you just told the story of the shoes you guys have better answers than i do come on we were just thinking about the groundbreaking interview in the new balance shoes tanya's new oh wow is that a suggestion yeah for me can we make a note for there the therapy segment tanya's on the couch we'll talk offline tanya ruby new york ruby oh my gosh congratulations we have nothing to give you uh but a farewell hey you're good at hosting game shows i'm trying to stay i'm practicing running i'm going through it now uh willy great to see you thank you so much for talking to everybody all right thanks pal tune in sunday today with willy guys for something really special we'll come back here one of two point seven kiss FM knots tickets and ryan's roses on deck don't move that is next dude you're a machine right thanks guys bye thanks again to ryan for a great conversation and the great news about vanna white coming back to his version a deal of fortune thanks to all of you for listening if you want to hear more of these conversations with my guests every week be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode and don't forget to tune in to sunday today every weekend on nbc i'm willy geist we'll see you right back here next week on the sunday sit down podcast you love this podcast every episode imagine if you couldn't listen to it anymore or if you couldn't connect to any podcast imagine what you'd miss if you had no internet connection at all no way of finding a job or banking or seeking medical care online that's what life is like for the millions of americans facing the digital divide since 2021 AT&T has committed five billion dollars to help connect every american so everyone has a chance to thrive now back to the podcast AT&T connecting changes everything [BLANK_AUDIO]