It looks like Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell‘s playful rivalry is still going strong, even 16 years after leaving American Idol.
Abdul recently looked back on her time judging the ABC series alongside Cowell and Randy Jackson from 2002 to 2009. “Being the only woman on the panel, I had to overcome the guy on the left of me,” she recently joked while speaking to Fox News Digital. “Starts with a ‘S’ and ends with ‘imon,’ and the left side of my brain is permanently damaged with a British accent.”
She added, “But no big deal because at least I had Randy to the right of me.”
Abdul and Cowell constantly butted heads on the show due to their vastly different judging styles. When she left, Ellen DeGeneres replaced her as a judge for Season 9.
The singer and dancer has always been open about the difficulties of working with Cowell on the show. When she reunited with American Idol alum Jennifer Hudson on Hudson’s FOX talk show, Abdul made it clear that she tried to offset Cowell’s trademark attitude on the show.
“I have to say you were always extra-supportive on the show,” Hudson recalled during her appearance in 2023. “She used to get us gifts and stuff, y’all, which was very encouraging. You were the softness of it all that kept us — at least I would like to think — grounded.”
Abdul responded, “Someone had to be. It wasn’t gonna be the guy to the left of me.”
Hudson then admitted that Cowell “wasn’t too nice” when she was on the show, prompting Abdul to add, “Welcome to my world for a decade.”
She later admitted that Cowell is still “not that different” from how he was on the show.
“He’s snarky as always,” she said. “And he still makes jokes every time I see him. He goes, ‘Come here, Paula. Come here.’ Like how I would say to my chihuahua.”
At least they can laugh about it now!
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