“I’ve said several names. I think Pink has been in the talks, Miley Cyrus has been in the talks, Meghan Trainor has been in the talks,” he told Billboard on Monday.
But that’s not a promise. Bryan described Disney as “really tight-lipped” about the casting, including whether he and Lionel Richie would be invited back.
“I think Disney is just trying to figure out what they want to do,” he said, “and we’re just kind of sitting back and waiting until they decide.”
The opening for a new judge comes as Katy Perry exits the show after six seasons, having joined the reboot alongside Bryan and Richie in 2018.
“Katy was really perfect for that job,” Bryan said, “and I think they’re just working real hard to find somebody that can really come in and do the job that Katy did.”
“I love ‘Idol’ so much,” Perry told Jimmy Kimmel in February. “It’s connected me with the heart of America, but I need to go out and feel that pulse of my own beat.”
For Perry, that pulse includes releasing her sixth studio album and newest single, “Woman’s World,” which drops July 11.
As for the other artists Bryan name-dropped, two had very different reactions.
“I’ve done every interview in the world and said that that is my dream job,” Megan Trainor said on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.” “I have emailed three awesome people who work in that world who don’t really have the final say … but I have begged for this job.”
Trainor said “Idol” is her favorite show: “I’ve watched it since I was a child.”
Pink, for her part, was far more apprehensive. “I don’t like hurting people’s feelings,” she told ET. “I like my day job.”