Will Paula Abdul appear on the new American Idol? It's unclear, and she is also booked solid for the next few months.
ABC announced this week it is reviving the singing competition reality show but did not reveal the judges or host. Abdul served as a judge on American Idol for the first eight seasons, along with Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson, during its original run on Fox. The series ended in 2015 after 15 seasons.
"Idol was and still is one of the most life changing experiences for me," Abdul told E! News exclusively. "I'm so beyond proud to have been there since the inception of it. I think ABC is a great home for Idol. I'm excited for Idol. All the way around—ABC, Disney, and the record label it's a great home for Idol. I'm forever a fan. I'm just finding out the same way as everyone else and it's very exciting."
When asked if she would make an appearance, Abdul told E! News, "I have no idea! My focus is on tomorrow night opening the tour with a bang. We are all looking to open it up with a bang and have a blast!"
Abdul is keeping busy with her first tour in 25 years, the Total Package Tour, with New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men. It began Friday in Columbus Ohio and runs until July.
"After the last time I toured, I took six and a half years off because I had some injuries," she said. "Then I showed up on American Idol and that took almost a decade of my life and then I went on to do various television projects and I just missed it! I miss my fans who have been with me since the beginning."
"I'm just excited to reconnect with my fans and get back on stage and perform," she continued. "I'm reimaging doing recreations of my hits but done differently."
Abdul also talked about how she's been keeping healthy for the tour.
"I cut dairy and sugar which for me is very hard," she said. "Sugar is like the hardest thing for me. Sugar is hard because I couldn't keep going through the highs and lows of the crashes of the sugar rush. I started to train and get my cardiovascular situation better than it was because of singing and dancing and because, you know, the older you get the harder it is."
"It's constant work but I like the challenge of that. I like to push myself so it's kind of a labor of love," she said. "It's like being in school again and studying for your exams, you have to do the work."