Luke Bryan Shares Advice for Fellow Idol Judge Carrie Underwood, Says She’s Struggling to Say ‘No’
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(742x212:744x214):format(webp)/Carrie-Underwood-luke-bryan-112124-0653010d37704bc19c61c2f773c127a0.jpg)
Luke Bryan has some wise words for Carrie Underwood.
On Wednesday, Nov. 20, the “Kick the Dust Up” singer revealed the piece of advice he gave Underwood ahead of her first-ever season as a judge on American Idol.
“The thing about it is Carrie has to kind of learn in real time,” Bryan, 48, told E! News on the CMA Awards red carpet. “You kind of have to learn how to be a judge. It’s not like you can go to American Idol judging school.”
So far, Bryan said, Underwood, 41, is “awesome with the kids” and “has the best soul and heart.”
“She’s doing a great job and really settling into the judging table,” he said.
As she gets into the groove of things, Bryan noted that there’s one thing she’s struggling with.
“When she has to say ‘No’ she’s like, ‘I don’t wanna tell them no,’” Bryan said of Underwood. “But it’s kind of a part [of the job]. It’s hard when you got a kid that’s young and they haven’t found who they are musically.”
During an August interview with Seattle radio host Gabe Mercer, Bryan shared another piece of advice for his fellow judge. (Underwood will be joining Bryan and Lionel Richie on the judges’ panel.)
“Up her therapist,” Bryan joked in a TikTok posted by Mercer. “If she has a therapist, she’s probably going to have to double to deal with me and Lionel.”
“Maybe I should credit her,” he added. “Do therapists do gift cards where I can call her therapist and gift her a voucher?”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(727x0:729x2):format(webp)/cmt-luke-bryan-carrie-underwood-1-d462212a1b72443ba53d242abdbf2f32.jpg)
The “Before He Cheats” singer — who won the fourth season of Idol back in 2005 — was announced as Katy Perry’s replacement on the reality singing show on Good Morning America on Aug. 1.
The announcement emphasized her full-circle the moment with throwback footage of her Idol debut, which was filmed when she was heading from her hometown in Checotah, Oklahoma to audition for the show two decades ago.
“I remember being at home in our little house and seeing on TV that there were auditions in St. Louis,” she said in the clip. “My mom said, ‘If you want to go, I’ll drive you.’ ”
“I went from nobody knowing my name to tens of millions of people watching the show,” she added.
