Ellen says being a judge on American Idol was ‘the worst mistake I’ve made’

PROFESSIONALLY, Ellen DeGeneres has rarely put a foot wrong, but an appearance on a certain TV show has left her regretting it ever since.

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 07: TV personality Ellen DeGeneres attends the 2015 People's Choice Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on January 7, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

BEING a judge on American Idol might be the most despised gig in Hollywood.

Ellen DeGeneres is coming clean about her 2010 stint on the singing competition, telling Howard Stern in a new interview that it was “one of the worst decisions I’ve made”.

Fallen idol ... Ellen DeGeneres, pictured with judges Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi, and Randy Jackson, didn’t enjoy her time on the reality show. Picture: Supplied

The 57-year-old also talked about her reluctance to squash the dreams of so many contestants.

“As a fan of the shows, it doesn’t matter that I sing or I know anything about pitch,” she said. “I’m like everybody else at home, so I thought I’m gonna represent those people at home and have opinions. But then I just thought, I can’t break this person’s heart. Let somebody else do that.”

Fellow former judge Mariah Carey expressed a similar sentiment. “It’s so boring and so fake,” Carey said back in May. She also has no plans on doing a reunion show, either. “Hell, no! Absolutely not, that was the worst experience of my life.”