Paula Abdul returning to judge American Idol, filling in as Luke Bryan recovers from COVID-19

Variety

Abdul will sit at the Idol judges' desk for the first time since its ABC debut, starting with tonight's first live show of the season. "I’m sad to say I won’t be a part of tonight’s first live @AmericanIdol show," tweeted Bryan. "I tested positive for COVID but I’m doing well and look forward to being back at it soon." Abdul was a judge on Fox's version of American Idol from its launch in 2002 through 2009.