What to Know
After her first year as a judge on American Idol, Carrie Underwood reportedly almost didn’t return to the series for another season. According to what a source claiming to be close to the country star told The Sun, after she “struggled” through her first turn as a judge, Carrie reportedly only agreed to return after the show agreed to meet her very specific demands.
Carrie’s first year at Idol was reportedly a bit rough.
After Carrie was put under the microscope following her controversial performance at president Donald Trump’s inauguration, she wasn’t exactly set up for success at her new gig alongside fellow judges Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie — something that the source said left her “struggling.”
While Carrie might have won American Idol many years ago, it was her first time in the judge’s seat, and
Changes had to be made going forward.
Since one of Carrie’s struggles was being away from her husband and children, the source said one of the concessions the show made was to keep filming as close to her home base of Nashville as possible.
“There’s been a lot of switch-ups into how they’re making this season. The Hollywood Week was taken out completely to lessen the amount of time Carrie and the judges filmed in Los Angeles,” the insider said. “And because it’s her home base and such a good city for music, they filmed in Nashville.”
They added that there will be “more of an emphasis” on the Hawaii portion of the season with a longer filming period at Disney’s Aulani resort so her family can join her there this time around.
The powers that be at American Idol ultimately decided that it wouldn’t be worth it to lose her from the show.
The source claimed that the criticism that Carrie received while filming Idol was enough to make her seriously reconsider returning.
“She had a hard time dealing with all the backlash and viewer reaction from last season after all the Trump stuff,” they said. “On top of that, there’s people criticizing her appearance every episode — which is something she struggled with. The noise from the fans was so much louder than she was prepared for and that got to her. There were talks she wanted to quit and not come back when the noise got too loud.”
In the end, the producers at American Idol realized they couldn’t afford to lose Carrie and did “everything possible” to make sure she stayed on as a judge.
The newest season of American Idol returned on Monday, January 26.
