'American Idol': Ryan Seacrest caught flirting with Katy Perry on live TV

Ryan Seacrest was caught in an awkward moment on Sunday's episode of "American Idol," and fans don't know what to think about it.

The show returned from a commercial break during its live broadcast on ABC, and it appeared as though Seacrest wasn't aware that they were live again as he stared at Katy Perry mid-conversation at the judging panel.

"We're on," Perry told Seacrest.

"Your mom's pretty," he responded.

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"My mom?!" Perry reacted, bewildered. "Well, I hope the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"You are, too." Seacrest added. "But you're not a mom!"

"Not yet," Perry said while looking at her fellow judges, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.

"You wanna talk about it?" Seacrest asked.

The moment, which happened during the Mother's Day broadcast of "American Idol," clearly made the rest of the judges and in-studio audience, as it was completely silent in the rest of the studio. Was this a planned gag? Were Perry and Seacrest really caught unknowingly conversing live on television?

"Are we live?" Perry asked. "I think we're back, yes" Seacrest said back.

Fans of "American Idol" definitely weren't sure what to think about the moment.

"I thought that was really weird too," one person tweeted. "I’ve worked on several shows, and it’s all extremely controlled, the count down from commercials and on air time, so I think it was planned. But it was indeed very strange in my opinion."

"That moment when you realize the U.S. just caught you in a very creepy and awkward #MeToo situation," someone else wrote in gif form.

Another fan thought that the moment was "probably just for TV."

Regardless of whether or not it was planned, it was definitely awkward, especially considering the recent allegations made against Seacrest by a former stylist that worked with him at E!, who claimed that he sexually harassed her in the workplace on numerous occasions. Both E! and ABC have stood firmly behind Seacrest, who has vehemently denied the allegations multiple times.

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