Katy Perry has revealed that she plans to leave American Idol after its upcoming Season 22, and in a new interview, her fellow Idol judge, Lionel Richie, shares his stunned reaction when he first heard the news.
Perry made headlines all over the world when she dropped her bombshell news during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday night (Feb. 12).
“I think this will be, probably be my last show. I mean, my last season for Idol,” she said during the interview, adding that she had not yet informed Richie or Idol‘s other celebrity judge, Luke Bryan.
“Well, they’ll find out tonight!” she quipped when Kimmel asked how they’d reacted to the news.
Perry cited her desire to explore more opportunities as an artist as her primary reason for stepping away from the show.
During a subsequent appearance on Kimmel’s show on Wednesday (Feb. 14), Richie admits Perry’s news took him completely by surprise.
“I’m not mad” about Perry’s choice, he assures Kimmel in the clip below. “It just made me run off the road when I first heard about it! My phone blew up.”
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The veteran pop superstar says Perry’s decision “makes sense.”
“The reason I love coming on the show here with you, and the reason I’m doing American Idol, is because I have 400 years of stories and a life in the music business. I have things that I’ve done,” Richie tells Kimmel. “And so when Katy says I want to go and create some stories, remember that she’s young…But the point is, is that you have to take some time and actually be an artist.”
Richie remained mum on who he’s like to see replace Perry, saying that the show’s producers are being “tight-lipped” about who they’re considering.
“I don’t even know,” he states, “but I’m telling you it’s going to be really interesting.”
Season 22 of American Idol premieres on Sunday (Feb. 18) on ABC.
