Randy Jackson Heading Back To American Idol?

Is the Top Dawg going back to “American Idol”?

According to Deadline, Randy Jackson will continue to bring his music expertise to the Fox reality competition – this time as the show’s in-house mentor – a role previously held by Jimmy Iovine.

Iovine, co-founder of Interscope Records and chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M, joined in Season 10, following Simon Cowell’s exit.

This is not the first time Randy has been rumored to take over this role on the series. Last season, he was reportedly going to serve as a mentor, but instead, continued his reign at the judge’s table.

Back in May, Randy announced his departure from the judges’ table in true dawg style.

“Yo! Yo! Yo! To put all of the speculation to the rest, after 12 years of judging on ‘American Idol’ I have decided it is time to leave after this season,” he told Access Hollywood in a statement at the time. “I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry. It’s been a life changing opportunity but I am looking forward to focusing on my company Dream Merchant 21 and other business ventures.”

Reps for Fox, Fremantle and Randy were not immediately available for comment when contacted by Access on Thursday.

— Jesse Spero