Luke Bryan and his fellow judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie return to “American Idol” Sunday and while things will look decidedly different due to the pandemic, with the contestants and judges social distancing from each other, Luke says that won’t take away from the emotion of the show.

“The most important part is when you’re in the room with a great contestant, we feel the greatness far beyond doing it virtually,” Luke tells E! News. “Even in the room we can’t walk up and put our arms around these kids right now, we have to keep our distance. But we’ve had some pretty emotional moments already.”

Luke added, “This is the first time in four years that just someone’s singing made me cry.”

And while the judges have to sit far apart from each other, it doesn’t get in the way of their fun banter. During the interview Katy joked that while she has missed Lionel since last season, she can’t say the same for Luke, who then chimed in “Hey, you’re the one that didn’t put deodorant on today!” “I’m a mom, I forget things now!” Katy argued. “And also I’m too busy.” And when it comes to being apart from Luke, she added, “But now I don’t get flicked by his boogers anymore.”

Source: E! Online