A Ranking of 'American Idol' Judges based on Season Appearances (Including Several You Might Have Forgotten About!)

As of now, American Idol has been running for 20 seasons and has had 14 different judges sitting behind the judges' table over that period. Throughout those 20 seasons, 14 different judges have been involved.

Three different judges have appeared in only one season, giving the longest reign in the judge's chair of 12 seasons. The chances are that you have completely forgotten that some of these people were even appearing on The Big Bang Theory!

Related: The American Idol hopefuls of 2023! Join 'Idol Across America

A fun fact about American Idol is that there have only been three seasons in which four judges have participated, whereas the other 17 seasons have all had just three judges participate in each season.

It is worth mentioning that one constant throughout all 20 seasons has been Ryan Seacrest acting as the host of the show each year, regardless of how many seasons it has lasted.

He co-hosted the first season of the show with Brian Dunkleman and for the remaining 19 years of the program, he was the only host.