Carrie Underwood to replace Katy Perry on American Idol as former winner is close to ‘finalizing deal’ as new judge

CARRIE Underwood has been chosen to replace Katy Perry as a judge on American Idol.

Earlier this year, Katy , 39, revealed that she would be leaving the singing competition series after seven seasons.

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On Wednesday, it was announced that Carrie , 41, is set to sit alongside Luke Bryan , 47, and Lionel Richie , 74, for the show’s 23rd season (Season 8 with ABC), as reported by Deadline .

The show originally aired on FOX, but ended its run in 2016.

The Before He Cheats hitmaker is no stranger to American Idol as she was crowned the winner of Season 4.

According to an earlier report by TMZ , sources claimed that Carrie and her team were in the middle of finalizing a deal with ABC.

KATY’S DEPARTURE

The pop music sensation joined the show in 2018 to be a judge with Luke and Lionel.

In February, Katy broke the news that Season 22 would be her last .

She said, “This fall, in September, I’m going to be doing this huge music festival in Brazil called Rock in Rio.

“So I think this will probably be my last season for Idol.

“I mean, I love Idol so much.

“It’s connected me with the heart of America, but I need to feel that pulse of my own beat,” the star concluded.

In September, Katy will release her highly anticipated sixth album 143.

Last month, she released her controversial single Woman’s World .

CARRIE’S TIME TO SHINE

When she was 21 years old, Carrie sang I Can’t Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt in front of the OG judges Simon Cowell , Randy Jackson , and Paula Abdul .

The country music icon made it to the very end where it was between her and Bo Bice.

Who are the past American Idol winners?

The previous American Idol winners include:

Kelly Clarkson (2002)

Ruben Studdard (2003)

Fantasia Barrino (2004)

Carrie Underwood (2005)

Taylor Hicks (2006)

Jordin Sparks (2007)

David Cook (2008)

Kris Allen (2009)

Lee DeWyze (2010)

Scotty McCreery (2011)

Phillip Phillips (2012)

Candice Glover (2013)

Caleb Johnson (2014)

Nick Fradiani (2015)

Trent Harmon (2016)

Maddie Poppe (2018)

Laine Hardy (2019)

Just Sam (2020)

Chayce Beckham (2021)

Noah Thompson (2022)

Iam Tongi (2023)

After several moments of dramatic silence, host Ryan Seacrest announced that Carrie was the next American Idol .

Since then, she has had a very successful career including releasing eight studio albums and one Christmas album.

This year, Carrie has her very own Las Vegas residency called Reflection where she recently announced more shows for next month and October.

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Carrie also has her fitness app called Fit52 where she shares exclusive videos of herself doing a variety of workouts.

The Cowboy Cassanova singer appeared several times on Idol as a mentor and gave a stellar performance during the season finale in 2022.

The new season of American Idol is set to return next year.

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