Paula Abdul makes her return to American Idol to fill in for host Luke Bryan

Paula Abdul has made a grand return to American Idol following host Luke Bryan’s recently testing positive for C-19. 

Luke Bryan is currently recovering in quarantine, which meant someone needed to fill in for him during the first live American Idol broadcast this season.

Abdul, one of the original American Idol judges, stepped in to replace him on last Monday night’s episode. Abdul went on to say it was “nostalgic” to be back.

The episode would get even more nostalgic as host Ryan Seacrest pulled out a tablet with Randy Jackson on video chat. That would mean that the only person missing from the original judges is Simon Cowell.

Abdul brought quite a bit of her usual friendly tone.

“It’s insane how talented all of you are,” Abdul told the contestants. “I feel like I’m watching the Grammys under the category of best new artist.”

2 singers would be saved by the judges, but Abdul had some parting words for the artists.

“All of you have every right to be so proud of yourselves,” Abdul said. “You’re all pretty stellar, and, again, this is probably the toughest season.”