Luke Bryan Shares His Prediction About Carrie Underwood’s Future As A Judge On “American Idol”
on Jul 31, 2025
Is Carrie Underwood Returning To American Idol? – Luke Bryan Offers His Thoughts
Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Carrie Underwood judged Season 23 of American Idol. Underwood was a judge for the first time, although she was already a member of the Idol family. She won Season 4 of the show in 2005 and has become one of its most successful champions.
Preparations are already underway for Season 24, which will likely air early next year (2026). However, Idol has not confirmed if Bryan, Richie, and Underwood are returning to serve as judges.
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During a recent conversation with Taste of Country Nights, Bryan shared his prediction about Underwood’s future on the show.
“My prediction would be highly favorable [that she’ll return],” he said, adding, “I know she had a great time in the role.“
While Bryan was confident about Underwood’s return to Idol, he seemed less certain about his future. Or, maybe, he was just playing coy.
“We’ll see what happens…’Idol’ is kind of a year-by-year [thing], ‘Do we do it or not?'”
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Bryan made it clear he loves working on Idol. He’s been a judge since 2018 and had a ton of fun with Richie and Underwood this year.
“[This] year was really really incredible with Carrie and Lionel and Ryan,” he said. “And the main thing is just, have fun with American Idol and have fun with the [contestants].”
Carrie Underwood Won American Idol 20 Years Ago
Season 23 of American Idol coincided with the 20-year anniversary of Underwood’s win. The show made multiple references to this milestone anniversary this year.
For one episode, Underwood wore the same dress she donned for her Idol finale. She celebrated the fact that the 20-year-old dress still fits her today.
Underwood shared throwback pictures on social media throughout the season, including personal photos from her Hollywood Week. Fans had never seen those pictures before!
Underwood also revisited some of her most iconic Idol performances. She took an extra step by fully recreating her past performance of Heart’s “Alone” during the show’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-themed evening.
When she first performed the song on Idol in 2005, judge Simon Cowell made a bold prediction:
“Carrie, you’re not just the girl to beat, you’re the person to beat. I will make a prediction – not only will you win this show, you will sell more records than any other previous Idol winner.”
Underwood has since sold over 85 million albums and is the highest certified female country artist ever.
Watch her recreate her performance of “Alone” in the video below. If Luke Bryan’s feelings are right, and she returns to Idol next year, we can surely count on more extraordinary performances like this.
