When Paula Abdul stepped down as a judge on American Idol following a dispute in her contract, Ellen DeGeneres stepped in to fill the now-vacant fourth judge chair.
But the talk show’s host tenure on the reality TV series was ultimately short-lived, as Ellen had only one season on American Idol.
Later on, DeGeneres called the American Idol “one of her worst decisions.”
At the time, Ellen admitted that American Idol “didn’t feel like the right fit,” both due to her intense talk show schedule and the pressures that resulted from this position, which involved judging people and hurting their feelings publicly.