Mariah Carey was 'lured' by greedy lawyers to host 'American Idol' to increase revenue for her legal team

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Mariah Carey appeared on the 12th season of 'American Idol' alongside hosts Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson, and Keith Urban.

However, she shared her true feelings about her experience on the popular reality show a few years after she was hired as a host.

While there were many aspects of 'American Idol' that Carey disliked, there were some positive aspects of participating in the show, like finding some impressive contestants on the show.

So much so that she was truly devastated when some of her favorites were passed up for political reasons, per Showbiz Cheat Sheet.

Mariah Carey was not prepared for her experience on 'American Idol'

According to the 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' singer, she was made to agree to appear on 'American Idol' under false premises from the beginning. In a recent interview with Hot 97, Carey clarified that the show's initial format was intended to be entirely different.

"I was the first person signed on. Heaven forbid I look like I’m saying something negative, but honestly I thought it was going to be a three-person panel," she said.

She explained: "They gave me a nice dangling monetary moment. I was like, okay, Randy Jackson will be there, I’ve known him forever. This isn’t a big deal. This will be nothing. But it wasn’t that. It was like hell. It was like going to work every day in hell with Satan."

Regarding the show, Carey previously told Variety, "It’s not worth this much breath to go back to that horrible moment that my lawyers lured me into and made me sign my deal because they wanted to get that commission. But other than that, it was f***ing perfect!"

The show's three-judge panel structure was changed when Minaj joined 'American Idol'. Minaj and Carey notably clashed on how they critiqued each other, which undoubtedly contributed to Carey's negative assessment of the show.

Some competitors responded to Carey's comments on the reality show as well. 'American Idol' finalist Lazaro Arbos believed the artist should have been treated more politely by the show.

Arbos thought that Minaj was largely to blame for Carey's harsher remarks against the show, wherein she described 'American Idol' as abusive.

"I think that Mariah made those comments of Idol being abusive in regards to her arguments and disagreements with Nicki Minaj, but honestly there was no need for all that," Arbos said.

Contestant Devin Velez, meanwhile, expressed empathy for the record-breaking artist's emotions. He even appeared to support Carey during her on-screen feud.

Mariah Carey previously called her experience as 'American Idol' judge 'bleak'

In an interview with 'Jimmy Kimmel Live', Carey also admitted that she liked some of the parodies that sprang from such a depressing period of her life.

The singer would, however, host the show once again despite the overwhelmingly bad experience. However, in rather different conditions.

Speaking to Kimmel, Carey said of her 'Idol' experience, "It was a bleak experience. We don’t have to go back there."

Carey revealed her favorite result from her judging experience, without sharing what went wrong: "I’ll tell you the best part was some of the memes we got," per Billboard.

Carey further said, "I would have to really know who I was working with. At that point, they set me with someone that I really didn’t know and I know the chemistry was awful, and basically, being that it’s over now, I’m very happy."

"I would do it again with someone like a Simon Cowell, maybe. But the random person of the week that we’re going to put you with? No, thanks," she said.