Luke Bryan has finally spoken up about Carrie Underwood joining him on American Idol.

The country singer welcomed her with a social media post touting auditions last week, and now, he’s giving advice.

Is it advice? Or is it a warning? You decide.

• Bryan, Underwood and Lionel Richie will be the three judges when American Idol resumes in 2025.
• Underwood was announced as Katy Perry’s replacement last week.
• She later admitted that she won’t be able to lie to contestants. “I feel like I’ll be very honest, but hopefully I can be very constructive and encouraging,” she tells GMA.

Related: Why the Time Is Right for Carrie Underwood to Join American Idol

The ever-jovial Bryan joined 100.7 the Wolf for an interview recently. When asked for advice ahead of Underwood joining the cast, he said she should prepare a therapist.

“If she has a therapist, she’s probably gonna have to double to deal with me and Lionel,” he says, either referring to frequency or how much she pays.

“Maybe I should … give her — do therapists do gift cards, where I can call her and give her a voucher?”

Underwood becomes the third full-time judge with a country music background, following Bryan and Keith Urban, who was part of the show from Season 12 to 15.

In announcing Underwood’s participation, the show also shared that Ryan Seacrest will return to host. He was host when Underwood won Season 4 of Idol in 2005.

Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he’s written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.