American Idol doesn’t shake up its cast as often as The Voice — in fact, on both the Fox and ABC versions, Idol kept the same group of judges for seven seasons. But Idol still has its fair share of turnover, and judge exits aren’t always as amicable as publicists would have you believe.
Every American Idol Judge Who Left, and Their Reasons, Explained
With a replacement for Katy Perry on the way, here's a look at all of the show's former judges and what they have to say about their departure.
Abdul was the first of the original Idol judges to leave, after Season 8. "The truth is, it was time for me to leave," she told Entertainment Weekly in 2016. "I hadn't had the same job in eight years. I felt like there were changes happening and it didn't feel like the same show. I had to go back and do things that I wanted to do, and that contract with the show didn't allow me to do a lot of things."
Cowell, who left the show after Season 9, told HollywoodLife in 2019 that he took issue with the show's age restriction and even its title. "How can you say, 'You can't be a star [because of your age]?'" Simon said. "And I hated the word 'Idol,' to be honest. And why isn't a 35-year-old just as great as an 18-year-old? I got to the point where that wasn't real, and that's why I moved on."
