ABC President: ‘I Would Love To Have’ Paula Abdul On ‘DWTS’’

Paula Abdul may have left “American Idol,” but could a move to “Dancing With the Stars” be in her future?

“Absolutely, I would love to have that,” Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment, said at the network’s Television Critics Association panel on Saturday in Pasadena. “I was a little stunned by the decision [she made to leave].”

In response to a question from Access Hollywood at the event, he added he’d already been in touch with Paula.

“I gave her a call first and foremost just to say I was sorry about the situation and also that we’d love to see her on ABC,” he said.

And, he noted, Paula could step in as a judge – or a contestant.

“Whether it’s as a contestant or a participant of some sort, judge, etcetera… we would love to have her on ‘Dancing.’ I think she’s a huge talent,” Stephen told reporters.

In addition, Stephen praised Paula for balancing out the “Idol” judge’s table.

“There’s a sensitivity and there’s a kind of emotion to her that balances out ‘Idol’ and we’d love to get a piece of that,” he said.

Such a move would find Paula switching from singing to dancing – something that she, a two-time Emmy award winner for Outstanding Choreography, is well versed in.

The star announced via Twitter earlier this week that her “Idol” days were over after eight seasons on the show, but she hasn’t nailed down her next move yet. After the news that she’d be leaving “Idol,” Paula told The Associated Press later in the week that she was fielding a number of options.

Outside the event, in response to a question from Access, the ABC executive said Paula sounded upbeat on the call and the two will be meeting up soon.

“She sounded great,” he told Access. “We were friends years ago and I said ‘Hey, you know, I heard about this and I want to let you know that we’d love to talk about possibilities at ABC’ and she said, ‘Great.’ She was traveling and she’s going to be back in town and we’ll sit down.”

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