#Ryan Seacrest Reveals He Was Initially Considered to Be an ‘American Idol’ Judge

Ryan Seacrest revealed he was initially considered to be a judge on American Idol before becoming the longtime host of the singing competition show.

During his appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show Friday, The Kardashians executive producer told Clarkson, who won the first season of American Idol in 2002, that then-producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick originally heard him on the radio in Los Angeles when they were planning the show and “thought that I might fit the panel to be up there with whoever else was already on.”

“I guess Simon [Cowell] was already on board, and I don’t know who else at that point,” he added. “And I was like, ‘Well, wait a minute. I would love to audition to be the host.’ And so I auditioned eventually to be the host. And I got the job. So I’m happy to still have the job.”

After signing on as host when the show started in 2002, Seacrest has remained the host for 21 seasons and counting, from the initial first three judges, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Cowell, to the latest, Luke Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie.

Although Clarkson proceeded to wonder what it would be like to see the former Live with Kelly and Ryan co-host as a judge, Seacrest said, “The problem is I’m like in auto-host mode all the time, so I don’t know that I’d be able to sit behind the desk and just give feedback. I’d want to do that, then toss to commercial. ‘Welcome back. How are you?’ … and that would be too much.”

The Voice coach also asked him how American Idol has changed over the years. The former E! News host explained that current contestants have seen so many “success stories” that “they know that they can really be a big star. So now, when they’re 8, 9 years old, they tell me they start training for the audition. So when they’re of age to audition, they’ve rehearsed.”

Season 21 of American Idol is currently airing Sunday and Monday nights on ABC.