Hard pass! Simon Cowell has no intention on joining ABC’s American Idol revival.
“I was asked to do it, and the answer is no,” Cowell, 57, told Extra on Thursday, May 11. “I have no interest. My memories are when we first started. It was a different time with Randy [Jackson], Ryan [Seacrest] and Paula [Abdul]. You can’t re-create that.”
Cowell was a judge on the original Fox reality show from 2002 to 2010. The series ended in April 2016, but ABC announced this week that a reboot is officially happening.
“American Idol on ABC…that has a nice ring to it,” Disney co-chairman Ben Sherwood said in a statement on Tuesday. “Idol is an entertainment icon, and now it will air where it belongs, in ABC’s lineup of addictive fan favorites alongside Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor. America, get ready for the return of a bigger, bolder and better-than-ever Idol.”
Reactions to the news have been mixed. While Seacrest has said he hoped it would come back, others have reservations. Nigel Lythgoe, an executive producer on the show, reacted to the reboot in a statement to Variety. “They got their wish, but it feels a little too soon to bring it back,” he said. He added that he “loves the show,” but thinks that a series should only return “when there is public demand that it come back.”
