From Idol champion to Idol mentor—Carrie Underwood says she’ll never forget where it all began. Carrie Underwood may be one of the most successful artists to ever emerge from American Idol, but she hasn’t let fame cloud her memory of those early, nerve-wracking days. And that’s exactly why she says she takes her judging role on the show so seriously. “I’ve been that girl standing in front of the judges, heart pounding, praying someone believes in me,” Carrie shared in a recent backstage interview. “That moment changes lives—and I never take it lightly.
Carrie Underwood has the unique experience of being both a former “American Idol” winner and a new judge, so she understands the process on both sides of the action. Underwood says she feels a great responsibility to take her role as a judge seriously for one big reason.
In an April 2025 interview with Billboard, Underwood was asked how she felt about “going from contestant to judge.” She called the new judging gig “difficult.”
“I’m just so happy to be here. It’s definitely different, but it’s difficult,” she said. “I mean, when we’re discussing contestants, ‘Are they going to make the top 24?’ It’s a show, but it’s people’s lives and I’m like, ‘I was on these [contestant] boards 20 years ago and they were moving my picture around trying to see what board I was going to fit into,’ so I take it really seriously.”
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Luke Bryan noted, “You said you found out after the fact where you really were [on the judges’ boards].”
Underwood revealed, “They told me in one of the rounds in Hollywood Week that it was said out loud that this is not a unanimous decision, but I went through. I didn’t really care. I still got through. I don’t know who [said no] and I still don’t know who.”
When Bryan commented, “It stuck with you forever,” Underwood shared, “Absolutely.”
She explained, “It’s a taste of what you’re going to get afterward. In such a condensed amount of time, you learn how to sink or swim. You learn how to take those good or bad things and learn from them or make them be your motivation because you’re going to get it from everywhere else.”
Carrie Underwood Owes Her Career to ‘American Idol’
Underwood also shared the tremendous way that “American Idol” changed her whole life. “I came from obscurity in a small town in Oklahoma. I loved to sing but didn’t really know how to get from point A to point B,” she explained. “From that first ‘Idol’ moment on, my life was on a completely different path.”
She added, “It was a launching pad and I owe it all to this show.”
The singer noted that the show continues to change people’s lives, saying that she feels “blessed every single day that this is how I got my start and I’m glad to be a part of this legacy.”
Underwood added, “It’s a monster show. It’s still going. It’s still changing lives. It’s incredible just to be a part of that.”
