My, how the tables have turned: Carrie Underwood won the fourth season of American Idol back in 2005. Thirteen years later, Luke Bryan joined the ABC show as a judge. Now, as Carrie comes back to Idol, Luke&#8217;s the veteran, starting his eighth season on the show.

So how&#8217;s the &#8220;Before He Cheats&#8221; hitmaker adjusting?

&#8220;We&#8217;ve already done some auditions. You know, we do a lot of pre-taped stuff,&#8221; Luke tells ABC Audio. &#8220;And so Carrie&#8217;s doing a great job. It&#8217;s a lot to learn in a short amount of time when you&#8217;re talking about judging talent and dealing with the kids.&#8221;

&#8220;And she&#8217;s had a little bit of a learning situation on really saying no to kids because she&#8217;s such a sweet, kind soul,&#8221; Luke reveals. &#8220;You know, it&#8217;s tough to sit there and tell some kid no, that they can&#8217;t go to Hollywood.&#8221;

&#8220;But she&#8217;s doing great. And just me and her and Lionel Richie, we&#8217;re having a blast being on the show and watching the talent,&#8221; he adds.

Luke and Carrie remain at the top of their game, with Carrie closing in on the top of the chart with her duet with Cody Johnson, &#8220;I&#8217;m Gonna Love You.&#8221; Meanwhile, Luke&#8217;s just started his climb with &#8220;Country Song Came On,&#8221; &#8220;a honky-tonk kind of throwback song&#8221; he&#8217;d been waiting to put on an album for awhile.

The new season of American Idol premieres March 9 on ABC, with a special sneak peek on the way after Sunday&#8217;s Oscars.

<img decoding="async" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/syndication.abcaudio.com/files/2025-02-27/M_LukeBryanIdolCarpet.jpg" alt="Luke Bryan and Carrie Underwood at American Idol">

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Luke Bryan says Carrie Underwood’s showing her ‘sweet, kind soul’ as an ‘Idol’ judge | ABC Audio Digital Syndication