American Idol Judge Has Never Seen the Show

American Idol judge Steven Tyler admitted he had no idea what he was signing up for when he agreed to join the show because he had never seen it before.

The Aerosmith frontman was unveiled alongside Jennifer Lopez as the programme's new judges following the departure of Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi at the end of the last season.

The new panellists appeared with veteran judge Randy Jackson and Idol host Ryan Seacrest on America's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday night to discuss the upcoming cycle.

Seacrest called out the rocker for admitting he had never seen the contest before he signed on to judge its contestants: "He got through the show on the first day and he goes, 'What do they do on this show?' I go, 'You've never seen it?' He goes, 'No, I've been busy.'"

Tyler confirmed the revelation, confessing, "I've been busy, I'm on tour."

The new American Idol crew will make their debut when the show premieres in the U.S. on 19 January.