The Jennifer Hudson Show / YouTube Paula Abdul
“American Idol” judges Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell were known for their disagreements over the nine seasons they spent together on the show. On Friday, March 3, Abdul appeared as a guest on “Idol” season 3 finalist Jennifer Hudson’s daytime talk show, and the two discussed her relationship with Cowell and how he has changed over the years.
When Hudson asked “Was [Simon] tough on you too, Paula?” in reference to his harsh demeanor and critiques to the contestants, Abdul was quick to respond, saying “Tough on me? I’d have spikes on my heels so I could kick him underneath the table, honest to god.”
Paula Abdul Credits Fatherhood With Making Simon ‘Mellow’
Abdul conceded that Cowell has changed his ways after Hudson mentions that “He’s so mellow now”, which Abdul says is because “he’s a daddy”. Cowell has one child, a 9-year-old son named Eric, with his fiancée Lauren Silverman. Silverman became pregnant with Eric while still legally married to her now-ex-husband Andrew. She had one child from that marriage, a 17-year-old son named Adam, whom Cowell is a step-father to.
“Yeah, he’s different, not that different thought,” Abdul said, saying Cowell is still “snarky as always. He still makes jokes every time I see him. He goes ‘Come here, Paula, come here!’ [while patting his lap] like how I would say to my Chihuahuas.”
Later in the interview, Adbul shares the story of how three years prior to “American Idol” beginning, she saw a psychic who “proceeded to tell me that I’m going to be doing a television show, like a talent show… she said I’d be sitting in between an [expletive censored from broadcast] from across the pond, and that he will be the thorn in my side. And that I’ll be sitting also to the right of me in between a gentleman that I already know. His name starts with the letter ‘R’. And she said that it would be at a studio with the initial ‘F’. She said it was going to be the biggest show, that it would break records on television, and I paid no attention to it. It was almost three years to the date that I was called into Fox.”
Jennifer Hudson Said Simon Cowell ‘Hides’ From Her
Cowell appeared on the first episode of “The Jennifer Hudson Show” in September 2022, and before he came out the producers aired a short interview with Hudson talking about her relationship with the former “American Idol” judge.
“I remember my goal was for Simon to tell me ‘You’re the best singer I’ve heard’,” Hudson recalled of her original audition. She went on to remember some of the less kind critiques he gave her, her elimination from “Idol”, and her subsequent Oscar win for her role in the movie-musical “Dreamgirls”, before talking about Cowell again.
“You know what? Simon hides from me. I haven’t seen him in person, I don’t know when. I’ve been looking for Simon. It’s kind of like going back to the high school teacher, and being like ‘Look at me now!’ I want to see if I made him proud,” Hudson said before bringing Cowell out for their first reunion in 18 years.
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