Jennifer Lopez spoke with Cubby Bryant of 103.5 KTU in New York City the other night, talking about her decision to exit ‘American Idol’ as a judge as news broke that Mariah Carey would be her replacement on the hit FOX show. Lopez talked about touring’s role in the decision, how the show has a tendency to lock people down for awhile, advice she’d give to potential replacements, the biggest surprise about being part of the show and how she shares a belief in hard work with Ryan Seacrest.
On whether her tour played a part:
All of it played a part. There’s a lot of moving parts to my life, to my kids to all the other businesses I have, to movies, to singing, to touring.
On ‘Idol’ locking her down:
I love the show, and I love doing the show, but this is what I do. I did it for two years and I kind of put things on hold for a while. Then you go, am I going to do this again or am I gonna get back to what I do, and I had to get back to what I do.
On advice she’d give to potential replacements, such as Mary J. Blige:
I would say yes Mary, you should do it, because I know her personality and I know that she loves music. That’s a big part of it, loving music and loving artists. I would tell her the good things and the tough things about it, which is it will lock you down for a little while and you won’t be able to do everything that you always do, but it’s a great experience.
The biggest surprise about doing ‘Idol’:
The biggest surprise was how much I loved it. How much I really became attached. I literally cried the day that I made the decision not to come back, like I’m really not gonna do it this time. I was kind of going back and forth a little while about the decision, and then I knew it was the right thing to do. I knew I had to get back to what I did. It was painful because I just grew to love everybody there, and I loved the experience of the show. The behind the scenes people as well as Randy (Jackson), Ryan (Seacrest), Steven (Tyler), the kids.
Watch the interview via iheartradio.com below.
