Katy Perry is not coming back to "American Idol" following her seven-season stint on the show as the pop star found her time in the singing competition to be "suffocating," a source has claimed.
The former judge — who left the show more in early 2024 — also hasn't watched her "Idol" alumna present replace her old chair this season with country singer Carrie Underwood.
The 40-year-old singer is reportedly focusing on her music career after the release of a new album, "143," ahead of her upcoming "Lifetimes" World Tour, beginning April 23, 2025, in Mexico City. Now, a source close to the singer told The US Sun that Perry has absolutely no regrets about leaving the long-running competition show.
"Katy doesn't even watch the show so she hasn't seen Carrie," the insider said. "But she feels more like herself now than she has in years being a pop star. She is a pop star to the core, and her team all felt like the show was holding her back—she felt that too."
The source went on to describe Perry's time on the show as creatively limiting, "It was suffocating in a way due to being under the Disney contract and needing to film so many weeks of the year and having to answer to people she would not normally have to answer to."
No Hard Feelings, But Also No Looking Back
Still, Perry, who had competed on Idol, has not expressed any resentment about her experience. The source continued, "Katy wishes the show and everyone there well, she still views it as a positive overall," the source added. "She just graduated from that chapter and has no interest in going back."
In early 2024, Perry stated her desire to leave the show to focus on personal and creative growth when she visited Jimmy Kimmel Live.
"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," she told Kimmel. "I want to go and see the world and maybe bring new music."
Perry became a judge on the ABC revival of "American Idol" in 2018 with Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. Not only was her departure the end of an era, but a vast budgetary change for the show as well.
Read more: Katy Perry's 'Lifetimes Tour' Sparks Controversy as Fans Appear to Favor Opener Rebecca Black
Carrie Gets Her First Role With A Smaller Paycheck
The 42-year-old was one of the judges on the panel from 2025 when she shared Perry's chair in Season 23. Despite her judging debut fading metering, the insiders said her pay pales in comparability to Perry's.
"For her first year, Carrie is making substantially less than Katy," the source told The US Sun. "Carrie's salary is in the $10-12 million range, so less than half of what Katy was getting."
Perry's annual paychecks were reportedly upwards of $25 million—more than double the amounts Richie and Bryan were raking in.
Underwood is on a one-year deal with no commitment to come back, but producers will surely extend her a new deal if the reception stays positive. Inevitably, according to one insider, "If everything continues to go how it's been, the team will want Carrie back, no question," the insider said.
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