Ryan Seacrest Welcomes CNN’s On-Air Drinking Ban During NYE Broadcast

Media correspondent Ryan Seacrest is not opposed to CNN banning alcohol for hosts during the Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve show.

Last month, the network announced that their highly publicized New Year’s Eve broadcast would no longer allow anchors to have a drink while on air. Seacrest, who has reported live from Times Square since 2005, says the move isn’t such a bad idea, despite admitting that viewers and guests may prefer a tipsy anchor. Nevertheless, Seacrest says he is no fan of drinking before or during the big show but says once 1:05 a.m. rolls around, he isn’t opposed to a bottle of wine.

“For me, it’s a little more intense. I prefer not to do that on a live broadcast so I get the countdown right. I don’t want to screw it up,” he shared with Entertainment Weekly.

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The network’s ban on getting too turned up comes after last year’s very lit show that featured Don Lemon and Andy Cohen all having a drunken blast as they rang in the New Year. After the broadcast, CNN’s chairman and CEO, Chris Licht, claimed that on-air drinking damaged the “respectability” of the show.

Seacrest has theorized that the decision may have come after Cohen took jabs at him during last year’s hosting. Cohen insinuated that ABC’s broadcast of the ball drop may have been boring, joking, “If you look behind me, you’ll see Ryan Seacrest’s group of losers performing. I’m sorry, but if you’re watching ABC, you’re watching nothing.” The Bravo star would later claim he didn’t recall another political comment made during the festivities.

Even with the liquor ban, Seacrest said he may send a few shots to his co-hosts “just to tempt them while they’re on the air.”