It was in 2017 when rumors about Selena Gomez joining "American Idol" as one of its judges started. A year after, the 16-year-old "Back to You" hitmaker never joined the ABC reality series. Hence, the news about her is a lie.
Hollywood Life first reported "American Idol" producers offered Gomez to be a part of the show as one of the judges. A source claimed ABC executives eyed Justin Bieber's former girlfriend and topped their "wish-list" of judges.
The producers allegedly believed Gomez would be the best option to join "American Idol" panel of judges. With the "13 Reasons Why" producer's appeal for the younger crowd, her impact in social media, and her influence in people, would surely rake in sky-high ratings to the show. "She'd be considered the nice judge," the insider said.
Gomez is one of the most followed stars on Instagram. In fact, as of this writing, she already has a whopping 143 million followers. So she is the best fit to join "American Idol" to reach a vast number of people.
At the time, the tipster added the producers were already making a proposal for Gomez. They were even hoping that she would accept their offer to be part of "American Idol." It might be a long shot for them to have the former "Barney & Friends" child star join the show, but they were willing to take a chance. "They'd love to have her signed up and all judges by mid-October," the source added.
However, Gossip Cop already slammed this report last year. It even revisited the case this 2018 and insisted Gomez did not even appear on "American Idol" as a judge. The "Wizards of Waverly Place" actress did not take the iconic red seat.
"American Idol" ended with Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan as its panel of judges. There were even no reputable sources that claimed Gomez would be part of the ABC reality series at the time.
Gomez's rep cleared there were no even conversations about her joining "American Idol." There were reports that it might be even a little difficult for the "Wolves" singer to be seated next to Perry after the latter's feud with her best friend, Taylor Swift, who she recently called as her big sister, per People Magazine.
In the now-deleted Instagram Live video, Gomez talked about her bond with the "Look What You Made Me Do" hitmaker and said nothing but good words about her. "Taylor's awesome. I love her. She's amazing," Gomez said. "I talked to her today. She's literally like my big sister, I tell her everything."
