Luke Bryan has some advice for his future coworker and American Idol’s newest judge Carrie Underwood.
“Up her therapist,” he joked with Audacy’s 100.7 The Wolf on Sunday, August 4. “If she has a therapist, she’s probably going to have to double to deal with me and Lionel.”
For season 23 of American Idol, Underwood, 41, will join Bryan, 48, and Lionel Richie on the judge’s panel. It’s a full circle moment for the “Before He Cheats” singer, who won the competition all the way back in 2005.
Even with Underwood’s experience on the show, Bryan joked that it would take a special person to deal with his and Richie’s antics all season long.
“Maybe I should credit her or give her…,” he told radio host Gabe Mercer backstage at the Watershed Music Festival in Georgia, Washington. “I wonder, ‘Do therapists do gift cards where I can call her therapist and gift her a voucher?’”
On August 1, ABC officially confirmed that Underwood would be serving as a judge following Katy Perry’s exit. The network shared the news by posting a throwback video that featured Underwood’s intro package on the show 20 years ago.
“I went from nobody knowing my name to tens of millions of people watching the show,” the singer said in the announcement video. “I’m proud of everything that I was able to accomplish on the show and I’m so proud of everything I’ve accomplished since.”
Host Ryan Seacrest celebrated the news by commenting, “She’s going to be fantastic. Welcome home!” Perry, 39, also expressed her endorsement by writing, “It could only be Carrie! She will be amazing. Miss you guys. 143.”
Another individual extra excited to have Underwood return to the show is American Idol showrunner and executive producer, Megan Wolflick.
Although Underwood had returned to the series on multiple occasions, Wolflick explained why there was so much interest in securing the Grammy winner for this specific role.
“Well, it is 20 years since she auditioned in St. Louis for American Idol, and to have the first ever Idol alum on the panel has always been something that’s been interesting to me,” Wolflick shared with Entertainment Tonight on August 1. “She is our queen, she is our icon of American Idol.”
Auditions for season 23 of American Idol kick off on Monday, August 12, in Alabama. A premiere date has yet to be announced.
