the Top 9 hopefuls<\/a> as they took on Disney Night. <\/p>\nIn addition to serving as a mentor, Hudson stepped in to guest judge the evening alongside the usual panel, which is made up of Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Carrie Underwood.<\/p>\n
Hudson\u2019s Idol return was first revealed during the show\u2019s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame episode. In the video that announced the exciting news, Idol shared clips from Hudson\u2019s time on the show in 2004.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I sing, I just hope that somebody is touched by it, somebody sees it,\u201d Hudson said in the clip.<\/p>\n
Jennifer Hudson Teases Her American Idol Return<\/p>\n
Later, during an episode of her talk show, Hudson discussed her return to the series.<\/p>\n
\u201cY\u2019all, I cannot believe that it has been 22 years since I was first on American Idol. Can you believe it? I hopped on that American Idol roller coaster and it hasn\u2019t stopped since,\u201d she told the live studio audience. \u201c\u2026 I am so grateful to be here at The Jennifer Hudson Show 22 years later. What?!\u201d<\/p>\n
Hudson went on to note that, because \u201d that show was so significant to my entire life,\u201d she\u2019s \u201cso excited to return as a mentor and guest judge to the place that I used to call home.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot believe I\u2019m saying this. The beautiful part is, I feel like all of you guys have been on that journey with me for me to be here 22 years later. I have to say a special thank you to you all,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is a full circle [moment] for me as well.\u201d <\/p>\n
As for what fans can expect from the episode, Hudson said she \u201ccannot wait for you guys to see all of these talented people perform.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been such a pleasure to work with these talented young artists. There are superstars there and I cannot wait to cheer them on and for everybody to see them,\u201d she said. Hudson added that Idol \u201cbelieved in me when I had no experience in anything like that,\u201d and that\u2019s why she\u2019s happy to return the favor.<\/p>\n
Before ending the segement, Hudson had one final word for viewers at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cMake sure y\u2019all vote, because you don\u2019t want people to get eliminated like I was eliminated 22 years ago!\u201d Hudson exclaimed, alluding to her seventh-place finish on season 3, which Fantasia Barrino went on to win.<\/p>\n
American Idol airs<\/a> Mondays on ABC.<\/p>\nPhoto by Kevin Winter\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jennifer Hudson is returning to where it all started. On April 20, the EGOT winner appeared on American…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[12287,88,36086,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-597200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-american-idol","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-jennifer-hudson","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}