Ryan Seacrest Bummed

Ryan Seacrest is extremely bummed to find out Paula Abdul is leaving American Idol.

At around 11pm last night, Abdul cleared up any confusions about whether she would stay in a tweet to her fans:

“With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to #IDOL.”

Seacrest stated how he felt on his morning show for KISS FM located in LA.

“She’s a dear friend. I love her to death and am really sad that it came to fruition. I’m just bummed because we’ve worked together for so many years. It’s sad.”

There has been much talk beforehand that this was all a publicity stunt. Idol's ratings had been faltering and the show was looking to phase out after a couple more seasons. All this hype and controversy could be exactly what Idol needed to stay on the air longer.

Fox cleared up any rumors of a rouse, saying: “While Paula will not be continuing with us, she’s a tremendous talent and we wish her the best.”

A very bummed out Ryan Seacrest also helped to dispel claims that the drama was faked, stating: “As far as I know, it’s real. At this point she’s decided to leave.”

One website reports that Paula wanted $20 million to stay on the show, but was miffed when she learned they would only dish out around half of that. Ryan Seacrest, however, just worked out a $45 million deal to stay with the show for a few more seasons.

I'm sure Seacrest is not pouting over that.