Carrie Underwood To Lead ‘American Idol’ Webseries As Singer Joins ABC Show As Judge​on February 26, 2025 at 6:00 pm

EXCLUSIVE: Carrie Underwood is set to remind people of her American Idol origin story ahead of getting behind the judging desk.

The singer is to lead webseries Icon to Idol, which will be released as a companion to the ABC show. It will air on YouTube starting on March 4.

It comes ahead of the premiere of Season 23 of American Idol, its eighth on ABC, which launches on Sunday March 9 with a special preview following the Oscars on March 2.

Underwood has had a busy start to the year; in addition to replacing Katy Perry on Idol, the eight-time Grammy winner performed at Donald Trump’s inauguration, singing America the Beautiful despite some tech glitches.

Each episode of Idol To Icon will cover a different part of the competition and will roll out throughout the entire season, timed to the corresponding airing for the current season, with the last episode covering her finale memories and ultimate Idol winning moment.

Underwood will take viewers back to 2005. She kept a journal throughout her time on Idol and the series will feature her reading exclusive diary entries along with covering fashion highlights and behind-the-scenes confessional moments. This year marks 20 years since she broke through.

She will be joined on Idol by existing judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan.

Underwood, who has sold around 85M records, is widely considered the most successful of the American Idol winners. She auditioned for the show, which was then on Fox, with Bonnie Raitt’s I Can’t Make You Love Me and her version of Alone was thought to be one of the reasons for her win.

The series is produced by Fremantle and 19 Entertainment. It is hosted by Ryan Seacrest.