‘American Idol’ Winner Carrie Underwood Comes Full Circle as Show's Newest Judge... Replacing Katy Perry

It’s a full circle moment for former American Idol winner Carrie Underwood, who has now replaced Katy Perry as the talent show’s newest judge, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

Underwood initially won the competition 19 years ago during the series’ fourth season.

Underwood, 41, is in the “final stages” of securing her contract to appear on the hit ABC show.

Once the ink has dried, the Before He Cheats singer will take her place alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie in her new role. Season 23 of ABC’s American Idol is slated to be back on air around February 2025, according to TMZ.

Over the years, Underwood had been on the show as a mentor, and she also performed during the competition’s 2022 finale.

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Perry, 39, who was a judge on the show for seven seasons, left at the end of the last season. The final episode aired on May 19. In recent months, producers had been searching for a replacement, with Meghan Trainor and Jon Bon Jovi on the list of possibilities.

According to a report, Perry was “pushed out the door” by producers. The Fireworks hitmaker allegedly felt leaving was the only choice after being portrayed as a villain and Simon Cowell 2.0 due to the way her comments were shaped in the editing room.

Since leaving the show, Perry has been focusing on her music career by launching her new single, Woman’s World earlier this month – but even that has been mired in controversy.

The singer donned a bikini and other barely-there outfits for the music video. However, she quickly faced backlash for its overtly sexual nature.

Fans took to the comments section to share their thoughts, including one user who wrote: “Nothing says female empowerment like holding a bedazzled drill. This is the most surface level fake feminist s--- I’ve seen in a long time.”

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Another posted: “As an OG KP fan… this was such a missed opportunity. Could have shown real working women, mothers, military women, grandmothers. That’s what being a woman is about. We are not just our bodies.”

Perry was also called out for having a scene in the video where an anvil smashes her in the middle of her performance, and she returns in a new outfit.

However, she pushed back in a behind-the-scenes Instagram video. She explained getting “smashed” was about a “reset” of her idea “of feminine divine.”

The Roar singer also noted: “We’re kind of just having fun, being a bit sarcastic with it. It’s very slapstick and very on the nose. And with this set it’s like, ‘Oooh, we’re not about the male gaze, but we really are about the male gaze.’ And we’re really overplaying it and on the nose.”

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