If you’re planning to ring in 2025 at home, you’ll have plenty of TV personalities to help you count down to midnight. For starters, “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest will ring in the New Year in Times Square for the 20th year in a row, ABC announced on December 2, 2024.
Down the street from Seacrest’s stage, Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen will once again host CNN’s New Year’s live programming, per Variety, but over on CBS, former “Idol” judge Keith Urban will be a first-time host of “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash.”
Ryan Seacrest Will Be Joined by Co-Host Rita Ora for Second Year
“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” will kick off on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern time. A promo released on December 2 revealed that Seacrest will be joined by singer and actress Rita Ora, who debuted as his co-host in 2024, per WWD.
ABC announced via social media that the countdown show will include performances from country stars Cody Johnson and Thomas Rhett, rocker Lenny Kravitz, pop/soul singer Teddy Swims, and R&B artist Tinashe, with more to be announced later.
Keith Urban Will Co-Host Televised Nashville Countdown With ‘Entertainment Tonight’ Reporter Rachel Smith
Urban’s role as host of the Nashville countdown was announced in October, with longtime co-host Rachel Smith of “Entertainment Tonight.” To ring in 2024, she co-hosted with country singer Elle King, who’s now expecting her second child, per Billboard.
“Nashville’s Big Bash” is free and open to the public. The five-hour CBS broadcast will air live on December 31 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern time and pick back up at 9:30 p.m., running until 12:30 a.m. Urban, who was a judge on “Idol” for four seasons, from 2013 to 2016, will be joined by fellow country stars and season 22 “Idol” mentors Jelly Roll and Kane Brown.
Andy Cohen Says He & Anderson Cooper Will Be Allowed to Drink Again on CNN’s New Year’s Eve Special
Meanwhile, Cohen — best known as the host of Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” — confirmed to Variety in late October that he’ll return to co-host another New Year’s Eve with Cooper, his dear friend and CNN anchor. Cohen took over for comedian Kathy Griffin to help Cooper ring in 2018 and has returned every year since, per Us Weekly.
CNN executives previously banned alcohol on the show after the 2021-22 broadcast, when Cohen slighted Seacrest and admitted he was drunk. The two laughed off their so-called “feud” on an episode of “WWHL” in September, and Cohen told Variety that he and Cooper will be allowed to imbibe as they ring in 2025.
Referencing Cooper’s scary moment covering Hurricane Milton when flying debris hit him in the head, Cohen told Variety, “Yes! You bet. After what Anderson did in that hurricane, I’m not only giving him tequila, I’m throwing it at him.”
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