Originally appeared on E! Online.
Ryan Seacrest is navigating a heartbreaking loss.
The “Wheel of Fortune” host shared that his father Gary Lee Seacrest has died. Earlier this year, Ryan shared his father had been battling prostate cancer for years.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that my loving father peacefully passed away earlier this week,” he captioned an Oct. 31 Instagram post. “My mom, sister and I have peace knowing he is in a better place and free of any pain or suffering. We are heartbroken.”
Included alongside the caption were photos of Gary with his family, including wife Constance Marie Zullinger, Ryan’s sister Meredith Seacrest, her husband Jimmy Leach and their daughter Flora Leach.
The former “American Idol” host added of his dad, “He was a devoted husband for 56 years, an incredible Papa to Flora, and my best friend.”
Also included in the images was a throwback photo of a much younger Ryan, dressed in a suit, standing alongside his dad, as well as one of the pair cooking together in Ryan’s adulthood.
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The 50-year-old concluded, “Dad you will live in our hearts forever. I love you.”
Gary’s passing comes a few months after Ryan shared insight into his father’s health, sharing that Gary had been privately battling prostate cancer for years.
“My dad is about 80 years old, and I have a very close relationship with my father,” he said during the July 21 episode of “On Air with Ryan Seacrest.” “And my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer years ago and started his treatment. And he, it didn’t get better. It got worse and it spread. It didn’t go well for him.”
The TV host went on to share that he decided to share the information publicly after his father’s illness hit a critical moment while Ryan was still on “American Idol.”
Ryan Seacrest and Kelly Clarkson went head-to-head to see who could hit the most golf balls on a sticky-board of their faces in an ultra-competitive game of “Pie Hole-in-One.”
“I was on an ‘American Idol’ show live during last season and my sister called me and she said, ‘Dad is in the ICU. How fast can you get here?’” he continued, revealing that his father had contracted pneumonia. “I finished the show. We were almost done. I couldn’t, I couldn’t even, I didn’t even remember what I was saying was on the show. It was like robotic at that point.”
But amid the challenging times, there was also good — Ryan recalling the loving relationship between his parents and an especially good memory of them enjoying time the beach during his father’s treatment.
“I watched them over the weekends send photos of smiling and happiness and being together,” he remembered. “They’ve been married for 55 years. And they’ve got each other.”
Ryan added, “They’re just happy to sit together looking at an ocean. And I just, I want to share that because I’ve been holding that in for a long time.”
