Ellen DeGeneres is replacing Paula Abdul on “American Idol.”
“I just finally got the OK . . . just moments ago to announce this to you today,” DeGeneres told her studio audience during yesterday’s taping of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” airing today on WNBC/Channel 4.
“We’ve been dealing with this for the last couple of weeks and I’ve been dying to tell everyone.”
DeGeneres, 51, will continue hosting her daytime talk show.
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She’ll join “Idol” judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi on prime-time TV’s top show.
“I’m going to have a day job and a night job,” DeGeneres said. “The times we’re living in . . . we’re all doing that.
“This is so exciting for me.”
Abdul stunned the industry when she announced last month that she was leaving “Idol,” ostensibly over contractual differences.
It was believed the door had been left slightly ajar for her return, but that won’t happen now.
The ninth season of “Idol” kicks off in January on Fox.
“I could not be more excited to have Ellen join the ‘American Idol’ family,” the show’s creator/executive producer, Simon Fuller, said in a statement.