Luke Bryan’s Not Sure If He’ll Be Returning to ‘American Idol’: ‘Sitting Back and Waiting’

Katy Perry left American Idol after seven seasons, and fans have wondered if judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan will follow suit.

Luke, 47, addressed questions about whether or not he will be returning to judge the reality talent competition show next season. His answer was rather shocking.

“It’s been interesting,” he told Billboard in an interview published on Monday, July 1. “It’s been something Disney been really tight-lipped about with me and Lionel and [host] Ryan [Seacrest]. We currently haven’t heard what the story is on who’s coming back, and if Lionel and I are coming back. I think Disney is just trying to figure out what they want to do and we’re just kind of sitting back and waiting until they decide.”

While things have remained hush-hush regarding next season’s cast, Luke did throw some names around as to who he thinks would be a good fit to replace Katy, 39, on the judging panel.

“I’ve said several names. I think P!nk has been in the talks, Miley Cyrus has been in the talks, Meghan Trainor has been in the talks,” the “One Margarita” singer said.

Meghan, 30, expressed interest in the job during a June appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

“I’ve done every interview in the world and said that that is my dream job, and 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 … it’s my favorite show — I’ve watched it since I was a child,” she told Andy Cohen during the episode.

Luke admitted that whoever replaces Katy will have some big shoes to fill.

“Katy was really perfect for that job, and I think they’re just working real hard to find somebody that can really come in and do the job that Katy did,” he said.

Katy hopes that the person who replaces her possesses certain qualities to help the contestants thrive in the music industry.

“I hope it’s someone fearless. I hope it’s someone that doesn’t mince their words, maybe someone a little polarizing just like myself,” the “Firework” songstress told Entertainment Tonight on May 20. “There’s a lot of people that’s like, ‘She’s awful! She should go!’ And there’s a lot of people that are like, ‘She speaks her mind! She’s authentic!’ Whatever, you can’t win ’em all. I think it’s actually better not to win ’em all because that means you actually have a point of view.”

After leaving the show, Katy announced that her new single, “Woman’s World,” will be released on July 11. The song is the first off of her upcoming album. The accompanying music video will be released on July 12.

“Sometimes artists are like, ‘Oh, that’s boring, you want to make music from kind of like a tougher place,’ but actually it’s very bright and joyful, like pure joy and fun and playful and celebratory and a party,” the California native told Billboard in April of her new album.