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American Idol judge Randy Jackson has claimed that he has been forced to become the mean judge on the show in the wake of Simon Cowell's departure.



Jackson will be joined by Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and singer Jennifer Lopez when the show returns next week, after Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres, and Kara DioGuardi decided not to return for this year's series.

"Simon is irreplaceable, but people will be surprised to see that I'm very assertive this season," Jackson told PopEater, admitting that contestants have already dubbed him this year's meanest judge.

The producer also revealed that the new judging panel have already had disagreements over which contestants to put through.

"Sometimes you're really pulling for someone and another judge just doesn't get it," Jackson added, referring to a number of alleged backstage tiffs with Tyler.

American Idol will return for its tenth season on Fox on January 19.