Abdul manager plays down 'Idol' return

Paula Abdul's manager has insisted that there have been "no discussions" about her returning to American Idol, hinting that she has other plans for the future.

The singer confirmed that she was leaving the Fox reality show earlier this month, but numerous reports have suggested that she may reprise her panel position at a later date.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, manager David Sonenberg said that there had been "no discussions whatsoever about Idol", but admitted that he would "never count anything out".

"I think in some ways she was typecast in Idol and she was kind of restricted from doing anything she wanted to do and now she's free to decide," he explained. "She really is very excited about the future and that there's support for her."

He added: "She loves television. She has a number of exciting ideas, some of which are competitive, some of which are just theme-oriented.

"I think you're going to be seeing a lot of Paula, sometimes as an executive producer, sometimes as a performer or mentor and sometimes as a creative developer."

Sonenberg also revealed that Abdul was not considering an offer from Nigel Lythgoe to appear on So You Think You Can Dance, although he insisted that she had been flattered by the request.