Heavy/ABC "American Idol" judge Katy Perry
While being celebrated as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024, powerhouse singer and award-winning actress Fantasia Barrino said she’d love to return to the show where her rise to stardom began: “American Idol.”
Walking the red carpet at New York’s Lincoln Center on April 25, the season 3 “Idol” winner told “Entertainment Tonight (ET)” she’d love to step in for Katy Perry when the pop star leaves the show at the end of season 22. That makes her one of several stars connected to the show who’ve now expressed interest in replacing Perry at the judges’ table.
Fantasia Barrino Says She’d Love to Guide Contestants on Navigating the Music Business
Variety/GettyFormer “Idol” judge Paula Abdul and Fantasia Barrino at the premiere of “The Color Purple.”
Since Perry announced in February that she’s leaving “Idol” after seven seasons to focus on her music career, there’s been much speculation about who will take her place. When ET’s Rachel Smith asked Barrino if she’d consider taking on the job 20 years after winning the show, the singer gave a resounding yes.
“You know, I’m gonna be honest, I would love to,” Barrino said. “I think that those kids, when they’re coming into the game, I think that they need somebody to come in and not only show them how to sing a song but how to handle the business, because it’s a lot.”
She continued, “So just having somebody to say, ‘Hey, make sure you have this, make sure you have that, okay sing this song, sing that song,’ getting to know them, their upbringing. ‘What makes you want to sing? Why do you love this? Why do you want this?’ So, I would love to do it. I would be up for it.”
Barrino has gone through lots of ups and downs in the 20 years since her “Idol” win, when she was a 19-year-old high school drop out, single mom and survivor of domestic abuse, per CBS News. She catapulted to fame on “Idol,” with chart-topping singles right out of the gate.
But with fame and fortune came a lot of heartache. According to People, she was sued by her dad in 2006 when he didn’t like how he was portrayed in her memoir, “Life is Not a Fairy Tale,” she struggled with finances and survived an overdose of aspiring and sleeping pills in 2010.
Much like 2020 winner Just Sam has said of her difficult journey post “Idol,” Barrino told People, “I didn’t know anything about contracts. I didn’t know anything about checking your money and making sure every day your stuff was where it was supposed to be. I just trusted and believed everybody that came into my life.”
Looking back at herself on “Idol,” Barrino described herself to People as “just a little girl from High Point, North Carolina that liked to sing. She didn’t know nothing about the industry. She didn’t know anything about, ‘Maybe you should look this way, dress this way, talk this way, smile for the cameras a certain way.'”
However, Barrino said, “I’m grateful for it … If I did not go through that, I wouldn’t be the woman that I am today.”
Other Stars Have Expressed Interest in Katy Perry’s Job
Heavy/GettyJordin Sparks, Jelly Roll
Barrino isn’t the only former “Idol” winner to express interest in taking over for Perry. Shortly after Perry’s announcement, season 6 winner Jordin Sparks raised her hand for the job.
On February 16, the 2023 Grammy nominee tweeted, “Oh hiiii @AmericanIdol —I hear a seat opened up at the judges table! I’m putting my name in the hat!”
Oh hiiii @AmericanIdol—I hear a seat opened up at the judges table! I’m putting my name in the hat! 🙋🏽♀️
In March, she told Essence that she’d love to “shake things up” on the show.
She explained, “What better way to do it than (with) somebody who has literally been in their shoes, has been under the pressure cooker, has actually won the show, and then was able to really have a good, successful career? I think I’ve had a successful career, so I think it would be a lot of fun.”
“People asked me early on after ‘Idol’ if I wanted to ever be a judge,” Sparks continued. “And at the time I told them ‘No.’ I just didn’t feel like I had had enough under my belt to be able to sit and kind of tell someone else what they’re doing. But now, at this point in my life, in my career, I feel like I’ve learned a lot. I have a lot to say. I have a lot to give, a lot to share. And I think it would be fun to do that. So, whether it’s this year or the next year, it would be cool to be able to do something like that. I’m going to let the internet do its thing, and we’ll see what happens.”
Meanwhile, country-pop superstar Jelly Roll received an avalanche of accolades after his stint as a season 22 guest mentor to contestants in Hawaii earlier this year, including Perry suggesting he’d make a great judge.
When Kelli & Guy of Audacy’s K-FROG asked him in late April whether he’d considered the job since Perry’s ringing endorsement of him, Jelly Roll replied, “How cool is that?! Of course — I love ‘American Idol!’ Consider? I’ve accepted the job and they haven’t offered it!”
Jelly Roll continued, “How cool is Katy, though? When we were talking behind the stage the other day, she told me, ‘I’m telling you, you needa replace me.’ She’s always loved people who are the same way publicly (as they are) privately. For her to bring me up in the first interview she’s asked, I’m like, ’I love you, Katy!’ That’s just who she is. Katy is just one way all the time.”
Perry’s fellow judges, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, have said they’ve heard rumblings about potential replacements behind the scenes, but don’t know who producers are leaning toward hiring. An announcement will not likely be made until after the season ends in mid-May.