Ryan Seacrest has all but confirmed he is dating country singer and former Dancing with the Stars professional dancer Julianne Hough.
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"Every day I like her more and more," newly-departed American Idol judge Ellen DeGeneres told Seacrest about her wife Portia de Rossi during a Tuesday morning appearance on his On-Air with Ryan Seacrest syndicated radio show.
"I love that feeling and I know what that feeling might be like, and we'll talk about that when we have dinner," the Idol host replied.
"I know, I'm excited for you!" DeGeneres said.
"Can we talk about it now?" interjected On-Air co-host Ellen K.
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"Nope!" Seacrest said.
"Does everybody know, Ryan?" DeGeneres asked.
"No," he replied.
"Yeah they do!" Ellen K said.
"No!" Seacrest replied.
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"Everybody does," Ellen K insisted.
"No, they don't. I have not talked about it," Seacrest repeated.
"Are there pictures?" DeGeneres asked.
"Yes. Everywhere!" Ellen K said before Seacrest changed the topic.
Rumors that Seacrest and Hough have been dating have swirled since this spring when Simon Cowell reportedly revealed the 35-year-old Idol host had recently gone on a date with "the girl from Dancing With the Stars" during an April interview with Fox's KTTV-TV affiliate in Los Angeles, CA.
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While Hough initially claimed that she and Seacrest had only met with their managers for business, the pair have been spotted in public numerous times afterward, resulting in the 22-year-old -- who last appeared on Dancing with the Stars when she was paired with former boyfriend Chuck Wicks during the show's Spring 2009 season -- changing tactics and declining to comment on the relationship.
However DeGeneres apparently feels Seacrest and Hough have played coy long enough and attempted to revisit the relationship near the end of her On-Air appearance -- leading to an awkward exchange in which Seacrest joked about long-running rumors that he's gay and suggested Hough is a Stepford Wives-like creation.
"I don't get many nights off," Seacrest responded when DeGeneres ribbed him about not having dinner with de Rossi and herself lately.
"I know, and when you do you're with her. Let's talk about her for a minute," DeGeneres replied.
"She's great," he said. "What you said, I agree with."
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"[That] it gets better every day?" Ellen K asked.
"Yeah," Seacrest replied.
"I'm so happy for you!" DeGeneres said.
"Yeah, it's cool... [but] this makes me uncomfortable," Seacrest said.
"This is what your Ellens have wanted for you for years!" Ellen K said. "The day I met this person years ago I said, 'Oh Ryan!' And now it came true."
"But this one is even better than what you could build if you went to a factory to build one," Seacrest replied.
"Because that's how we're all built!" DeGeneres joked.
"Yes, at the Kellogg factory in Battle Creek," Seacrest replied. "I kept thinking... I would go to Ellen and Portia's for dinner all the time as the third wheel and I started thinking, 'Oh my god, she's actually probably going to think I'm gay' because I never come with a girl... anyways, the good news is it's a foursome now."
"Good, well we look forward to it," replied DeGeneres.
About The Author: Steven Rogers