Simon Cowell Was Such A Pain During The Early American Idol Years, Paula Abdul Had An Entire Process For Kicking Him 'Underneath The Table'

As America’s Got Talent continues to air on the 2025 TV schedule, Simon Cowell remains a fan-favorite judge, offering plenty of encouragement and compassion to contestants, in addition to his blunt critiques. He’s even called out producers for being “very mean” to the Season 20 contestants. How the tables have turned! Back in the early days of American Idol, Cowell was known for his rudeness, and fellow OG judge Paula Abdul had a pretty specific way of dealing with him.

Paula Abdul paid a visit to The Jennifer Hudson Show, reuniting with the EGOT winner years after J-Hud (shockingly) finished in seventh place on American Idol Season 3. The Dreamgirls actress told the audience that Abdul was definitely the “nice” judge back then, when she sat alongside Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. Hudson said she gave the contestants gifts and offered encouragement, calling her the “softest” of the trio, to which Abdul replied:

Ah, Simon Cowell. He and Paula Abdul definitely did not see eye to eye for much of the first eight seasons, before the “Straight Up” singer left American Idol. They went at each other on camera and under the table, apparently, as Abdul revealed:

Jennifer Hudson agreed that in her experience, Simon Cowell “wasn’t too nice” back then, but he’s been a guest on her talk show — he was actually her very first guest back when The Jennifer Hudson Show premiered in 2022 — and she noted that he’s “so mellow” now.

Paula Abdul thinks that becoming a dad in 2014 changed him, but she qualified that by saying:

While it’s kind of amusing to think of Paula Abdul having that Chihuahua energy on American Idol (it’s not an unfair comparison), Simon Cowell actually treating her like a dog or calling to her by affecting a high-pitched voice and patting his lap is pretty obnoxious. I daresay he deserved those spikey kicks.

Simon Cowell left American Idol in 2010, one season after Paula Abdul did. He went on to host the American version of The X-Factor from 2011 until its cancellation in 2013, and then he landed on the show where we can find him today — America’s Got Talent.

American Idol has moved from Fox to ABC since Simon Cowell’s time but still remains on the air. The show has seen a bit of a judging table switch-up lately, with Katy Perry exiting after Season 22, and Carrie Underwood replacing her as a judge 20 years after winning Season 4. There’s no official word on who’s coming back for Season 24, but there are rumors that Underwood may be leaving.

Still, don’t count on seeing one particular OG judge return to his stomping grounds: Simon Cowell has said he would likely never return to American Idol. Instead you can catch him on AGT, which airs at 8 p.m. ET Tuesdays and Wednesdays on NBC.