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He's back! Ryan Seacrest is returning to host 'American Idol'

On Thursday, the radio and TV talent revealed that when "American Idol" returns, he'll return to host the show again.
/ Source: TODAY

He's back! Or he will be soon.

On Thursday, Ryan Seacrest revealed that when "American Idol" returns to TV, he'll return to host the show again.

Ryan Seacrest
Host Ryan Seacrest is headed back to his old TV home, "American Idol."AP

"It’s genuinely hard to put into words what ‘American Idol’ means to me," Seacrest said in a statement. "I’m so grateful for the show and all the career and life opportunities it’s allowed me to experience. It’s been an incredible journey from day one. To be asked to return this year, at my new home at Disney|ABC, is an honor, if not a bit surreal."

The surreal part makes sense. After all, returning to "Idol" is sort of like going back to the beginning for the always-busy on-screen talent and producer.

Before he was known for his entertainment omnipresence — now with a daytime TV show, morning radio show, weekly music countdown and his annual "Rockin'" New Year's gig — Seacrest got his big television break on "Idol" in 2002.

Last spring he said so long to the show as it aired its final season on Fox, but he'll be back at the helm — alongside new judge Katy Perry — when the revamped series premieres on ABC in 2018.

But there's one person who definitely won't join him: Simon Cowell.

The former panelist recently told TODAY that he's much happier with his current work on "America's Got Talent." However, he admitted that he could imagine Seacrest returning to the singing competition.

"Well, I'm going to have a word with him because I've got a good idea how this could work for him: He hosts the show, he judges the show, he's the only performer on the show ... and that way he gets what he wants," Cowell joked about the man he teased so much back in the day. "He does it all. ... For him, it would be utopia!"