After four seasons as a “mentor” on ABC’s AMERICAN IDOL, national television and radio personality BOBBY BONES has revealed that he will not be returning to the show for its upcoming 20th season.
According to media reports, BONES shared that news in a now-expired INSTAGRAM Story while doing a Q&A with fans on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31st, reportedly saying, “Some of you noticed I’m not in the IDOL promos this season. My contract with my new network won’t let me do another show right now. Love IDOL, btw. Was a great four years.” He declined to provide details on his “new network,” for which he recently filmed a show in COSTA RICA. He reportedly told fans that he would share details of that show and its network “as soon as I can … The network hasn’t even announced the show yet. So, I’m going to chill for a bit. But it’s a really good show.”
BONES co-hosted the five-hour NEW YEAR’S EVE programming for CBS over the weekend, but it is unclear if that is his new network home. Also unclear is whether the new deal affects his status as host and Executive Producer of the weekly, one-hour “OPRY” show for the CIRCLE network.
In 2021, BONES starred in the travel/adventure series “BREAKING BOBBY BONES” for the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC network. While no renewal for that show has been announced, the episodes are available to stream on DISNEY+. In 2020, BONES signed a development deal with BBC STUDIOS’ LOS ANGELES production arm to develop and potentially host both scripted and unscripted projects.
