Simon Cowell has "no interest" in returning to "American Idol", though he has been approached to appear in ABC's reboot.
Speaking to Extra's Terri Seymour on Thursday, Cowell said: “I was asked to do it, and the answer is no.”
He added: “I have no interest. My memories are when we first started. It was a different time with Randy, Ryan and Paula. You can’t re-create that."
Idol was Cowell's breakthrough in America, with the British record producer wit and harsh putdowns a mainstay of the original series.
Cowell's current TV commitments may have made it difficult for him to return to "Idol" anyhow, occupying as he does the judge's chair on "America's Got Talent", "Britain's Got Talent" and "The X Factor UK".