Lionel Richie Jokes He & Luke Bryan Must Go To Extreme Measures To Keep Katy Perry on ‘American Idol’

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On Monday night, fans of American Idol anxiously watched as 10 contestants moved on to the next round. With several contestants hanging in limbo, judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan received the chance to save a few others. With the competition heating up, each contestant and even the judges are feeling the mounting pressure. But for Perry, she is soaking in every moment as she will end her American Idol run after this season. And while Richie and Bryan are thrilled for her, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a plan to keep her around. 

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Although Perry looked to get back to the studio after leaving American Idol, she insisted that her friendship with both Richie and Bryan would never stop. “I think the group chat is still going to live on forever.”

Expressing his love for Perry, Richie explained how the three have created a sort of family and it seems that the singer is willing to do anything to keep that family together. “We’ve kind of developed a little family and what’s happening now is that we keep talking about her leaving but it hasn’t registered yet. So I think as it goes on, Luke and I will probably get together and realize that we’re going to kidnap her.”

[RELATED: Katy Perry Opens up About Her ‘American Idol’ Replacement and Future After the Show]

Katy Perry Looks To Future Without ‘American Idol’

Holding both Bryan and Perry close, Richie continued, “What these two have done for me is that they’ve renewed my faith in mankind because seriously, you can have a train wreck in five minutes. It just takes the wrong attitude, the wrong ego, the wrong misunderstanding, and you’ve got a train wreck. And I have had so much fun and I just hope to continue. This relationship is forever.”

As for Perry, she looks to the future without American Idol. Wanting to get back to the studio, the hitmaker told Good Morning America, “I haven’t put any new material out since my darling Daisy. I think that I’m writing a lot and have written a lot from a place of love, because I’m feeling so much of it – so much unconditional love, that love you never knew existed.”

Noting that she continues to write music, Perry said, “I think what’s really important to me is to be celebrating the world that I’ve got to build with all of these wonderful songs and to be responsible for a life for a three year old. I will be back, but let me get this right.”

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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