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Ryan Seacrest Explains His Cryptic ‘Goodbye For Now’ Send-Off On ‘American Idol’ Finale

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 06:14 PST, Apr 10, 2016

Ryan Seacrest says it’s just hard to say goodbye. The American Idol host clearly had a hard time letting go at the end of the series finale of the long-running Fox singing competition, and his emotional send-off actually confused many fans. Seacrest’s final words to millions of viewers as he signed off from American Idol for the last time were: “One more time — this is so tough — we say to you, from Hollywood, goodnight America… For now.”

But now, Ruan Seacrest is explaining what he meant. The TV and radio personality took to Twitter to reveal that he just didn’t want to say goodbye to the TV series he hosted for nearly 15 years.

While some Idol fans were hoping that Ryan Seacrest’s not-so-final words had some hidden meaning, it sounds like Ryan’s non-goodbye was just his way of personally making his last night on the show a little easier. Still, even before Ryan Seacrest’s cliffhanger ending, there had already been buzz that Idol could come back again in the future—including some legitimate chatter from the longtime producers.

In an interview with Billboard, Idol creator Simon Fuller said there is “no doubt” the show will return in “another format.” Fuller also said that a break in Idol will give him the opportunity to come up with its “next generation.”

“[The end of the show] allows me to rethink the show for the first time, and now I can actually revamp it and come up with a next generation, a new version. I think we can look back at the archive and think of some legitimate ways to allow people to enjoy that again in some way,” Fuller said. “Maybe adding another dimension to it.”

Former executive producer Nigel Lythgoe echoed Fuller’s sentiments, saying he “doesn’t believe this is the end” of the TV talent competition. Lythgoe said he believes Idol will have a short hiatus, and he hinted a focus needed to be brought back to the contestants and more humor needed to be incorporated into a future incarnation of the show.

“I cannot believe a format that had the social impact of American Idol will ever be truly canceled,”Lythgoe said. “Rested, revitalized, reinvented and reintroduced but never canceled. By the reaction to last night’s finale, that reminded us of the incredible talent Idol found across 15 seasons. I doubt the show will be rested for too long.”

Even the Dawg thinks Idol will be back. In an interview with Yahoo TV, former American Idol judge Randy Jackson said he thinks the series could come back in a retooled format some day.

“It’s a great show. It’s a great talent-finder. It could go away for a couple of years and come back robust. Listen, you never say never.”

But as the only original member of the AI cast to remain on the series for its entire 15-season run, Ryan Seacrest was clearly the most emotionally invested. Ahead of the series finale, Seacrest talked about how he knew it would be an emotional end. Ryan also talked about some of the things he would miss about the TV singing competition, including judge Jennifer Lopez’s “goosies” catchphrase she gave to contestants whose talent blew her away.

Based on all of the talk about an Idol future, maybe Ryan Seacrest’s cliffhanger goodbye was actually appropriate.

Take a look at the video below to see Ryan Seacrest talking about how “overwhelmed” he was by the American Idol finale.

[Photo By Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]

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