Paula Abdul returning to American Idol as guest judge while Luke Bryan recovers from COVID

On Monday, Country star and current Idol judge Luke Bryan announced he's unable to be a part of this season's first live show because he tested positive for COVID, adding "I'm doing well and look forward to being back at it soon.".

In response to the news, the show quoted his tweet saying, "We wish him a speedy recovery," and then dropped the big news that Paula Abdul "will be stepping in as a guest judge with Lionel Richie and Katy Perry.".

While the "Straight Up" singer has returned to the show before, this will be her first time acting as a judge on it since she left the show in 2009, back when it was still on Fox.