Photo: ABC
Carrie Underwood warned she’d “get booed A LOT” on American Idol.
The returning judge and 2005 winner received “boos” from the audience during the latest Hollywood Week episode, which aired on Monday evening (March 2). In a clip shared on Instagram, Underwood turned to fellow judge and country star Luke Bryan and asked, “why don’t they boo you?”
“I don’t know,” Bryan admitted. “I’m trying to get booed. Ask them.”
“You’re not gonna boo him?! You’re not gonna boo Luke?!” Underwood exclaimed as she turned to face the audience; however, the crowd continued to “boo” her. In another moment, Underwood knew, “you’re gonna boo me. …bring it on.” The “Jesus, Take the Wheel” singer wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Boo me. I don’t care.”
“Spoiler alert…I get booed A LOT from our Hollywood Week audience,” she posted last month. This season, Idol’s iconic Hollywood Week took place for the first time in Nashville, Tennessee. Contestants had one round to deliver “make-or-break performances” during Hollywood Week: Music City Takeover, making this “the biggest Hollywood Week cut in Idol history,” according to ABC. Underwood said on Monday night that “this was such a huge cut. Hollywood week was brutal. There are definitely some we lost that I will think about for a long, long time but I’m confident about our top 30.”
Underwood returned to Idol for her second consecutive year as a judge, sitting alongside Bryan and Lionel Richie. She also reunites with longtime host Ryan Seacrest, who crowned her the winner in 2005. Brad Paisley and Keke Palmer will serve as guest mentors this season.
American Idol airs on ABC on Monday nights from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET/PT. It’s available to stream the next day on Hulu.
Bryan is also part of the star-studded lineup of the 2026 iHeartCountry Festival. The show also includes Kane Brown, Parker McCollum, Riley Green, Shaboozey, Dylan Scott, Russell Dickerson, Gretchen Wilson, Chase Matthew and Lauren Alaina. iHeartRadio's Bobby Bones is returning as the event’s host. The show will take place on May 2 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Tickets to the show are available as of January 23. Fans across the country will be able to catch all the action as the 2026 iHeartCountry Festival will be broadcast live across iHeartCountry stations nationwide and the free iHeartRadio app on Saturday, May 2nd at 8pm ET/5pm PT (7pm CT).