What Happened To Ryan Seacrest's Face, According To A Plastic Surgeon
Ryan Seacrest has undergone a truly wild face transformation in recent years, and everyone is talking about it. When Seacrest took over as the host of "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune," in September 2024, fans of the long-running game show had to do a double take to ensure that they were indeed looking at the ubiquitous TV personality. In fact, his altered appearance had many remarking that Seacrest's face tune up had gone too far. Nicki Swift reached out to board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Brandon Richland for his take.
Richland, the founder of Richland Aesthetics and Richland MD, explained that, to understand the facial changes of a famous person like Seacrest, we have to look beyond just natural aging. "We are looking at the clinical intersection of volume management, soft tissue laxity, cosmetic treatments and lifestyle driven atrophy," he elaborated. Taking these factors into account, Richland took a 2005 picture (below left) as the baseline, concluding that the TV host, then around 30, hadn't undergone any obvious cosmetic procedures yet.
By 2011, though, (above), Seacrest had entered the "high-performance maintenance phase." The plastic surgeon believes that the game show host started using Botox and possibly getting dermal fillers on his cheeks and skin resurfacing around that time too. "His mid-face remains elevated, but there is a suspicious lack of static lines for a man in his late 30s with such a demanding, high-stress schedule," Richland opined. By 2025 (above right), Seacrest looked very different indeed, but the expert doesn't attribute it to plastic surgery. In his opinion, the biggest factor driving Seacrest's changed look is actually weight loss.
Ryan Seacrest has been working on his health for a while
In his professional opinion, board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Brandon Richland doesn't necessarily think Ryan Seacrest has gone under the knife. Instead, the expert reckons the "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" host may have fallen victim to the infamous celebrity "Ozempic face." "While possibly the result of extreme metabolic change, given the prevalence of GLP-1s such as Zepbound or Ozempic, the latter is much more likely," he pointed out in an exclusive chat with Nicki Swift, referring to the increasingly popular weight-loss drugs. Rapid weight loss leads to a noticeable loss of fat in the lower cheeks and the temporal spaces, in particular.
This, combined with natural aging, can result in a pretty daunting look. "When you lose that much volume at 50, the skin can 'drape' or appear gaunt," Richland warned. Indeed, Seacrest's aged face on his 2025 New Year's Eve special had everyone saying the same sad thing. "Why is he so skinny? Looks emaciated," one user commented under the "Good Morning America" video on YouTube. Others agreed. "Ryan looks so sick and old," another commenter wrote. While Seacrest hasn't publicly denied or confirmed the use of GLP-1 drugs, he has been refreshingly open about embarking on a significant weight-loss journey ahead of his 50th birthday in 2024.
"[I've been] over-exercising, eating better, over-training," he joked on "Entertainment Tonight." As such, Richland feels Seacrest can have the best of both worlds, affirming that losing weight at an older age doesn't have to mean an aged face. "I would suggest treatment with a biostimulator like Sculptra, which builds collagen over time rather than just 'filling' a hole," he said, adding that a "mini-lift" might also help. Only time will tell if the TV host will take these options.