Radio and TV personality Ryan Seacrest wanted to be a DJ from the time he was a child, and he scored a gig at a local radio station at the age of just 15, becoming one of the youngest successful DJs in history. He went on to attend the University of Georgia after high school, but left during his first year to take a job at ESPN. The show didn't pan out, but Seacrest continued to find work as a DJ, taking over the "afternoon drive" at Los Angeles adult contemporary station Star 98.7. While working in radio, Seacrest kept looking for a break in TV, eventually scoring a hosting spot on a new reality show called American Idol in 2003. The show became a massive hit and Seacrest finally became a household name. He stayed with the series through subsequent seasons while he also began working at the E! network, doing red-carpet duties at award shows and events and hosting E! News Daily.
In 2005, Seacrest fulfilled a lifelong dream when he hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve alongside the ailing legend. And before long Seacrest became a celebrity in his own right, landing more and more high-profile hosting gigs, including the 59th and 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, and lucrative endorsement deals with brands like Proctor & Gamble and Coca-Cola. In addition to his television hosting duties, Seacrest heads Ryan Seacrest Productions, which produced the ABC series Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, which won an Emmy award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2010, and many reality TV shows for E!, including Keeping Up With the Kardashians and their various spin-offs, like Kourtney and Kim Take Miami.
